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50M— May-54— Form 


THE 


NATIVE   FLOWERS  AND   FERNS 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


IN    THEIR    BOTANICAL,    HORTICULTURAL,    AND 
rOPULAR   ASPECTS. 


BY 

THOMAS    MEEHAN, 

PROFESSOR    OF    VEGETABLE    PHYSIOLOGY    TO    THE    PENNSYLVANIA    STATE    HOARD 

OF    AGRICULTURE,    EDITOR    OF   THE   GARDENERS' 

MONTHLY,    ETC.,    ETC. 


SERIES  II.     VOLUME  I. 


ILLUSTRATED       BY      C  H  R  O  M  ()  L  I  T  H  O  C.  R  A  I'  H  S  . 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

AMER.  NAT  HISTORY  PUB.  CO.,  LIMITED. 

iSSo. 


Copyright,  A.  D.  1880. 
BY  AMKR.  NAT.   HISTORY  PUB    CO  ,   LIMITED. 


PREFACE   TO    SERIES    IL 


HEN  the  first  series  of  "The  Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the  United 
States"  was  issued,  the  hope  was  expressed  that  although  that 
work  should  be  complete  in  itself,  the  public  would  welcome 
another,  or  even  successive  series ;  until,  peradventure,  the  whole  Flora 
of  the  United  States  should  be  included.  It  is  pleasant  to  the  author  to 
know  that  part  of  this  hope  is  realised,  indeed  all  of  the  hope  that  can 
be  realised  up  to  the  present  time. 

Not  the  least  among  the  author's  gratifications  is  the  complimentary 
manner  in  which  the  work  has  been  received  by  his  botanical  associates. 
It  was  a  task  rarely  attempted,  to  bring  exact  botanical  knowledge  to  a 
level  with  popular  comprehension, — to  give  it  a  place  among  a  great 
variety  of  the  more  cultivated  branches  of  knowledge, — and,  above  all,  to 
accommodate  such  a  work  to  the  popular  purse.  That  this  could  be 
successfully  accomplished  the  author  had  the  courage  to  hope,  but  he 
was  scarcely  prepared  for  the  cordiality  with  which  eminent  men  of 
science  have  received  this  people's  work  as  an  acceptable  contribution  to 
scientific  literature.  Amongst  these  the  author  has  especially  to  make 
his  acknowledgments  to  Professor  Asa  Gray,  who  in  "Silliman's  Journal 
of  the  Arts  and  Sciences"  for  May,  1879,  compares  the  drawings  not 
unfavorably  with  those  of  Mr.  Sprague,  who  for  many  years  has  been  at 
the  head  of  botanical  drawing  in  this  country.  Considering  the  very  low 
price  at  which  this  work  is  supplied,  the  fact  that  Professor  Gray  should 
have  been  led  to  compare  it  with  the  best  and  most  expensive  botanical 
work  in  our  country,  must  be  accepted  as  very  high  praise. 

We  may  now  only  say  that  while  the  publication  of  the  work  has  been 
transferred  to  the  American  Natural  History  Publishing  Company,  Lim- 
ited, of  Philadelphia,  an  association  organized  primarily  for  the  purpose, 
Messrs.  Prang  &  Co.'s  excellent  artist,  Mr.  Alois  Lunzer.  will  still  make 


fi2223 


4  PREFACE    T(J    SERIES    II. 

the  drawings,  and  the  same  well-known  firm  continue  to  execute  the 
Lithographic  plates.  The  same  assistance  will  be  extended  by  numerous 
correspondents  all  over  the  United  States ;  and  with  the  increased  love 
of  the  task  which  the  success  of  the  first  venture  brings  to  the  author,  he 
hopes  to  make  this  second  "General  View  of  the  Native  Flowers  and 
Ferns  of  the  United  States,"  at  least  as  interesting  as  the  first. 

Special  acknowledgments  of  friendly  aid  will  appear  as  the  work  pro- 
gresses; but  more  than  this  is  due  to  Professor  C.  S.  Sargent,  of  the 
Cambridge  Botanic  Garden,  to  Mr.  Jackson  Dawson,  the  gardener  at 
the  Arnold  Arboretum  of  the  Bussey  Institute,  and  to  Mr.  John  H.  Red- 
field,  the  conservator  of  the  Herbarium  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  for  continuous  and  generous  assistance  on 
frequent  occasions. 

THOMAS  MEEHAN. 

GER.M.\NTcnV.\,    rHILADELPHIA,  May,  1879. 


CONTENTS    OF   VOLUME    I. 

SECOND    SERIES. 


Sarracenia  Drummondii.  '"^^e 

Drummond's  Pitcher  Plant 

Engelmannia  pinnatifida. 

Cut-leaved  Engelmann  Flower 

Diplopappus  linariifolius. 

Sand-paper  Star  Wort 

Onoclea  sensibilis. 

Sensitive  Fern 

Sarracenia  psittacina. 

Parrot-headed  Pitcher  Plant 21 

LiLiUM  Canadense. 

American  Yellow  Lily      •••.-...  2? 

SOLANUM    TORREYI. 

Torrey's  Solanum 2g 

POLYPODIUM   CaLIFORNICUM. 

Californian  Polypody 

Sarracenia  rubra. 

Red-flowered  Trumpet  Leaf.— Walter's  Sarracenia  ....         37 

Impatiens  fulva. 

Spotted  Touch-me-not,  or  Snap-weed 41 

Iris  verna. 

Spring  Iris ..,,,.         45 

Woods  I  a  obtusa. 

Common  Woodsia  ...«,,....         49 

Phacelia  bipinnatifida. 

Bipinnate  Phacelia  53 

(vii) 


^jjj  CONTENTS   OF    VOLUME    I. 

PAGE 
RUDBECKIA   FULGIDA.  ^  ^  ^^ 

Biilliant  Cone  Flower       ..-'''''         °         ' 

Cypripedium  acaule.  ^         ^^ 

Slemless  Moccasin  Flower        ..•■>•••  °  ' 

Camptosorus  rhizophyllus. 

Walking  Leaf  ..•••'■•'*'■ 

POLEMONIUM    REPTANS. 

Creeping  Greek  Valerian  ..•<><■•*''• 

Cypripedium  pubescens. 

Large  Yellow  Moccasin  Flower        o         .         =         »         -         •         °         *         '-^ 

Euphorbia  marginata. 

Snow  on  the  Mountain     ...'"■''''' 

ASPIDIUM    FRAGRANS.  ^^ 

Sweet  Shield  Fern  ..»         =         »<••-•• 

Erigeron  bellidifolium. 

Poor  Robin's  Plantain      .         .         .         -         •         °         •         *         *         * 

PiNGUICULA   LUTEA. 

Yellow  Butterwort 

Anemone  Virginiana. 

Tall  Anemone.— Thimble  Weed       .....-"•         93 

Cheilanthes  vestita. 

97 
Hairy  Lip  Fern         ...•«•         °         "         ° 

Iris  Missouriensis. 

.     -r  .  .  .        loi 

Rocky  Mountain  Ins         ...         =         <•■>         °         ' 

SOLinAGO  ulmifolia. 

Elm-leaved  Golden  Rod  .,..-»•'••  ^ 

SiCYOS   ANGULATUS. 

Star  Cucumber  ....-»"•• 

ASPLENIUM    EBENOIDES. 

Scott's  Spleenwort  ,...«•         °         •'         •  -> 

Commelyna  Virginica. 

Common  Day  Flower       ...••«•••• 

KYMPH/EA  flava. 

Audubon's  Yellow  Water  Lily  .         o         o         .         .         »         «         •       ^^l 

CROOMIA    PAUCU'LORA. 

Few-flowered  Croomia     ...«»•»         °         »         °       ^^^ 

AspiuiUM  Nevadense. 

Sierra  Nevada  Shield  Fern        ....»••.•■  "^ 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 


IX 


Nymph^a  ODORATA.  ""'^''^ 

Sweet-scented  Water  Lily         .         .         „  ,-,, 

Lobelia  Feayana. 

Dr.  Feay's  Lobelia 1^7 

Cynthia  Dandelion. 

The  Dandelion  Cynthia 141 

Ceratopteris  thalictroides. 

.  The  Horned  Fern  •••.......       145 

Aris^ma  triphyllum. 

Three-leaved  Lidian  Turnip i^g 

Geranium  maculatum. 

Spotted  Crane's-bill i-j 

CEnothera  Missouriensis. 

Large-fruited  Evening  Primrose        .  .         .         ,  .  .  .  .157 

ASPIDIUM    MUNITUM. 

Chamisso's  Shield  Fern    .  .  .         .         „ 161 

Stenosiphon  virgatus. 

The  Stenosiphon ,         .         .  ,  .        165 

Androstephium  violaceum. 

Crowned  Lily i6g 

Cassia  Cham.^crista. 

Sensitive  Pea  .  .  .  .  .         .         ,         .  ,  .  .17^ 

Gymnogramma  triangularis. 


California  Gold  Fern 


177 


LONICERA   SEMPERVIRENS. 

Scarlet  Trumpet  Honeysuckle  ........        iSi 

Chelone  glabra. 

Turtle-head 185 

Townsendia  sericea. 

Silky  Townsend  Flower  .........       189 

Polypodium  falcatum. 

Sickle-leaved  Polypod,  or  Liquorice  Fern  .         .         ,         ,         .         -193 


Plate  1 


Sarracenia  Drummondii. 


SARRACENIA    DRUMMONDII. 
DRUMMOND'S   PITCHER-PLANT. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  SARRACENIACE^E. 

SARRACENIA  Drummondii,  Cioom.  —  Leaves  elongated,  erect,  trumpet-shaped,  narrowly 
winged;  lamina  erect,  rounded,  short-pointed,  hairy  within,  and  like  the  upper  portion  of 
the  tube  white,  variegated  with  reticulated  purple  veins.  Leaves  two  feet  long.  .Scapes 
longer  than  the  leaves.  Flowers  three  inches  wide.  (Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southeni 
United  States.  See  also  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany,  imder  the  name  of  S.  Gronovii, 
var.  Dnivifnondii.) 


I 


ONGFELLOW,  in  describing  an  old-time  slave   hiding 
from  his  pursuers  in  a  southern  swamp,  says : 

"  Where  will-o'-lhe-wisps  and  glow-worms  shine, 

In  bulrush  and  in  brake  : 
Where  waving  mosses  shroud  the  pine. 
And  the  cedar  grows,  and  the  poisonous  vine 

Is  spotted  like  the  snake  : 

"  Where  hardly  a  human  foot  could  pass, 

Or  a  human  heart  would  dare, 
On  the  quaking  turf  of  the  green  morass 
He  crouched  in  the  rank  and  tangled  grass, 

Like  a  wild  beast  in  his  lair." 

It  is  not  often  that  a  poet  writing  with  one  subject  only  in 
view,  at  the  same  time  happens  to  paint  the  portrait  of  something 
entirely  absent  from,  his  mind.  Yet  every  one  who  has  collected 
Drummond's  pitcher-plant  will  recognize  a  very  fair  picture  of 
it  amidst  its  surroundings  in  the  lines  quoted.  It  is  a  car-^ 
nivorous  plant,  secreting  in  its  pitcher-like  leaves  water  into 
which  insects  are  enticed,  drowned,  and  eaten,  as  some  botanists 
say.  Besides  growing  among  poisonous  vines  spotted  like  the 
snake,  it  is  itself  spotted  ;  and  just  where  the  waving  "  Spanisli 
moss"  shrouds  the  pine,  and  in  swamps  where  a  human  foot  can 


6  SARRACENIA    DRUMMONDII. DRUMMOND  S    PITCHER-rLANT. 

scarcely  pass,  it  seems  as  like  a  wild  beast  as  it  "  crouches  "  and 
waits  for  its  prey  as  any  plant  can  be.  The  genus  is  confined 
wholly  to  the  Atlantic  portion  of  the  United  States,  and  because 
of  their  very  remarkable  form  must  have  been  among  the  first 
of  America's  plants  to  receive  marked  attention  from  the  white 
man  on  his  arrival  in  the  new  world.  It  is  believed  to  have 
been  referred  to  by  John  Henry  Bauhin,  who  published  a  history 
of  plants  in  Switzerland,  about  the  year  1650.  The  name 
Sarraceiiia  is,  however,  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  having 
been  given  to  the  genus  by  Tournefort,  a  distinguished  French 
botanist  who  flourished  at  the  opening  of  our  present  century, 
in  honor  of  Dr.  Sarrazin,  whom  Milne  calls  "an  ingenious  French- 
man, and  who  introduced  several  Canadian  plants  into  Euro- 
pean gardens."  Our  text-books  tell  litde  more  than  this  of  him. 
Gray's  "School  Botany"  merely  says,  "named  for  Dr.  Sarrasin, 
of  Quebec,"  and  this  is  repeated  in  the  same  author's  "  Manual," 
except  that  the  name  is  spelled  Sarrazin.  Professor  Wood 
makes  it  "  Dr.  Sarrazen,"  so  that  the  student  has  the  choice  of 
three  orthographic  forms.  The  Botanical  Editor  of  Rees'  "  En- 
cyclopaedia" uses  the  form  employed  by  Professor  Gray  in  the 
"  Manual,"  and  does  not  seem  to  think  that  the  credit  of  intro- 
ducing "  several  Canadian  plants  "  does  him  justice,  for  he  gives 
the  following  account  of  him :  "  Sarracenia  was  so  named  by 
Tournefort,  in  honor  of  his  friend,  Dn  Sarrazin,  of  Quebec,  who 
collected  numerous  plants  in  Canada,  specimens  of  which  are 
still  in  the  Herbarium  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History  at 
Paris.  While  they  lay  there  for  ages  unnoticed,  the  discovery 
of  the  same  plants  has  been  attributed  to  more  recent  travellers, 
who,  indeed,  could  know  nothing  of  Dr.  S.'s  acquisitions." 

Having  given  some  account  of  the  origin  of  its  botanical 
name,  we  may  devote  a  short  space  to  its  common  one  of  "  Side- 
saddle flower,"  by  which  many  of  the  family,  as  well  as  this 
particular  species,  are  often  known.  The  stigma  of  the  Sarracenia 
consists  of  a  broad  plate;  or,  rather,  there  are  "five  stigmas 
united    into  a  large  peltate  persistent  membrane,  covering  the 


SARRACENIA    DRUMMONDII. DRUMMOND  S    ITrCIIER-PLANT.  7 

ovary  and  stamens,"  as  Professor  Wood  explains  it.  When  the 
flower  is  fully  expanded  and  recurved,  the  petals  seem  to  hang- 
between  the  up-curved  angles  of  this  persistent  membrane, 
which  membrane,  according  to  Curtis,  in  the  "Botanical  Maga- 
zine," is  "  like  a  side-saddle,  the  petals  hanging  out  from  the 
angles  like  a  lady's  legs."  Nuttall,  however,  does  not  seem  to 
agree  with  this  account,  or  that  "Side-saddle  flower"  is  even 
an  American  name.  He  says :  "  The  most  curious  plant  of  the 
class  Polyandria"  (the  Linnasan  system  prevailed  in  that  day, 
and  Sarracenia  was  then  referred  to  this  class)  "is  undoubtedly 
the  peculiar  North  American  genus  Sarracenia,  termed  in  Eng- 
land the  Side-saddle  flower,  or  rather  leaf,  as  the  resemblance 
only  exists  there  to  the  old-fashioned  side-saddle."  One  would 
judge  from  this  expression  of  Nuttall's  that  the  name  of  "  Side- 
saddle "  flower  was  not  the  common  one  by  which  it  was  known 
in  this  country,  but  was  given  to  it  in  England.  Yet  this  hardly 
agrees  with  Gronovius'  "  Flora  Virginica,"  wherein  is  a  note 
attributed  to  Clayton,  of  Virginia,  which  says, — he  is  evidendy 
referring  to  the  Sarracenia  varioiaris, — "This  is  commonly  called 
Side-saddle  flower;  and  in  North  Carolina,  the  Trumpet  flower." 

The  name  of  Drnmjnojidii  was  given  to  this  species  by 
Croom,  a  very  promising  American  botanist,  who  collected 
industriously  through  the  Southern  States,  but  whose  useful 
career  was  cut  short  by  a  marine  accident;  and  it  is  a  little 
remarkable  that  Drummond,  an  enthusiastic  Scotch  collector,  the 
one  for  whom  the  plant  was  named,  should  also  have  died  at 
Havana,  far  away  from  home  and  friends,  when  on  a  collecting 
tour.  Thus,  Croom  and  Drummond,  both  in  a  measure  victims 
to  science,  happily  have  their  names  associated  in  the  history  of 
this  beautiful  flower. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  facts  connected  with  our  plant  is 
its  fly-catching  power,  already  referred  to,  which  this  species  has 
in  common  with  other  Sarracenias.  There  is  not  only  the  secre- 
tion of  water  in  the  pitcher-like  leaves,  but  a  secretion  of  sweet 
liquid  is  found  on  the  surface,  which  it  is  believed  is  in  pursu- 


8  SARRACENIA    DRUMMONDII. DRUMMOND  S    riTCHER-rLANT. 

ance  of  a  design  of  nature  to  allure  Insects  to  destruction. 
They  come  for  the  honeyed  juice,  which  is  supposed  to  intoxicate 
them,  when  they  fall  into  the  litde  well  of  water,  are  drowned, 
and  then  consumed  by  the  plant.  "  Drummond's  Side-saddle 
flower"  has  figured  particularly  in  this  character.  In  "Silliman's 
Journal,"  for  1873,  Dr.  Gray  says:  ''Sarraccnia  Dniimuondii  is 
the  species  which  most  closely  resembles  S.  flava  in  the  shape 
and  structure  of  the  pitcher.  We  now  learn  from  a  letter 
addressed  by  Dr.  Chapman  to  Mr.  Canby,  that  the  former  is  well 
aware  of  a  similar  (sweet)  secretion  in  that  species.  '  On  the 
inside  of  the  hood,'  he  writes,  '  there  is  a  very  faintly  sweetish 
secredon,  scarcely  perceptible  to  the  taste,  which  is  very  attrac- 
tive to  insects ;  and  as  I  do  not  detect  any  of  this  within  the 
tube  I  wonder  how  it  is  so  many  insects  are  entrapped,  since 
they  could  easily  fly  away  from  the  open  hood.'  " 

"Drummond's  Side-saddle  flower"  is  found  in  the  seaboard 
States,  from  Virginia  to  Florida.  It  is  a  very  variable  species, 
and  this  induced  Professor  Wood  to  group  a  number  of  varieties 
under  one  name— ^.  Gronovii.  Among  the  variations  is  one 
with  a  pure  white  pitcher;  that  is  to  say,  without  the  colored 
veining.  This  is  known  to  florists  as  Sarraccnia  Drummondii 
alba;  and  as  the  flower  remains  of  a  beautiful  red,  the  contrast  is 
pleasing,  and  the  variety  is  highly  prized  in  England. 

Explanations  of  the  Plate. —  i.  Root-stock  with  flowers  and  pitcher-like  leaves.     2.  Upper 
section  of  trumpet-like  leaf.     3.  Enlarged  portion  of  a  wing  of  the  leaf. 


ENGELMANNIA    PINNATIFIDA. 
CUT-LEAVED    ENGELMANN    FLOWER. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    COMPOSITTE. 

Engelmannia  PINNATIFIDA,  Torrey  and  Gray. — A  perennial  branching,  rough  and  hirsute 
herb  with  branching  stems,  corymbose  paniculate  at  the  summit,  and  bearing  several  small 
heads  on  slender  peduncles.  Leaves  alternate,  strigose,  oblong  or  ovate  lanceolate,  ir- 
regularly pinnatifid,  with  the  segments  lanceolate  or  linear  (the  lower  longest  or  divaricate), 
sessile,  the  radical  petiolate  and  bipinnatifid.  Rays  yellow,  tardily  deciduous,  pubescent 
externally.  Heads  many-flowered;  the  ray  flowers  equal  in  number  to  the  inner  scales 
of  the  involucre  (eight  to  ten)  and  situated  in  their  axils,  ligulate,  pistillate;  involucre  in 
three  series,  coriaceo-chartaceous,  broadly  ovate  or  obovate,  appressed,  the  exterior  short- 
est, all  abruptly  narrowed  into  a  foliaceous  lanceolate  or  linear  spreading  appendage,  the 
exterior  exceeding  the  scale  itself  in  length.  Receptacle  flat ;  the  chaff  persistent,  char- 
taceous,  with  foliaceous  and  hairy  tips,  partly  involute  and  enclosing  the  sterile  flowers ; 
the  outer  series  lanceolate  acute,  two  firmly  adherent  to  the  base  of  each  involucral  scale ; 
the  others  very  narrowly  linear,  rather  obtuse.  Corolla  of  the  ray  with  an  oblong  exserted 
sessile  ligule ;  of  the  disc  dilated  upwards,  fine-toothed,  the  teeth  somewhat  hairy,  style  in 
the  sterile  flowers  undivided  hispid.  Achenia  of  the  ray  equal  in  size  to  the  concave  inner 
involucral  scales  to  which  they  are  applied,  oval-obovate,  obcompressed,  convex  and  car- 
inate  externally,  flat  or  concave,  and  one-ridged  on  the  inside,  scabrous  pubescent,  not 
"winged  or  toothed,  crowned  with  two  small  scarious  lanceolate  concave  marcescent  squa- 
mellas,  which  are  more  or  less  united  at  the  base,  hispid  and  fringed ;  those  of  the  disc 
filiform,  abortive,  with  a  minute  coroniform  pappus.  (Torrey  and  Gray's  Flora  of  N^orth 
America.') 

HEN  proposing  to  ourselves  to  prepare  the  present 
work,  it  was  not  our  intention  to  make  it  botanical 
in  its  strictest  sense,  but  that  while  botanically  accurate,  it 
should  rather  be  a  work  for  the  whole  people.  Hence  it  was 
decided  to  give  only  the  characters  of  the  species  in  full,  con- 
finincr  the  text  to  those  facts  in  relation  to  the  genera  and  the 
orders,  which  might  serve  to  illustrate  some  general  lesson.  By 
the  long  quotation  we  have  now  given  from  Torrey  and  Gray,  it 
might  be  supposed  we  had  forgotten  this  original  plan,  and  the 
long  paragraph  of  "hard  words"  may  startle  some  who  have 

(9) 


lO  ENGELMANNIA  PINNATIFIDA. CUT-LEAVED  ENGELMANN  FLOWER. 

not  advanced  far  into  botanical  technicalities.  But  the  fact  is, 
that  even  from  the  popular  standpoint,  it  is  a  piece  of  good  for- 
tune that  we  have  been  obliged  to  make  this  long  quotation,  as 
it  offers  a  chance  for  some  popular  lessons,  not  often  afforded  to 
us,  in  relation  especially  to  the  structure  of  composite,  or  Aster- 
like plants. 

In  the  first  place  we  may  say,  that  Engdnmnnia  pimiatifida  is 
the  only  known  species  of  the  genus,  and  as  there  is  no  other 
to  compete  with  it  for  family  honors,  no  specific  characters  are 
given.  The  generic  character  includes  the  specific  to  some 
extent,  and  makes  a  specific  description  unnecessary.  Hence, 
what  we  have  given  shows  how  little  the  description  of  a  species 
may  have  to  do  with  a  plant's  essendal  character,  and  this  affords 
a  good  lesson.  But  the  main  one  is  to  note  with  what  accuracy  a 
careful  botanist  can  describe  a  plant,  and  then  the  faithfulness  with 
which  a  good  ardst  can  reproduce  an  original.  Occasionally  an 
artist  gets  some  help  in  his  study  from  a  botanical  description, 
and  may  be  tempted  to  make  his  drawing  agree  therewith  when 
perhaps  the  plant  before  him  would  scarcely  warrant  it.  This 
may  arise  from  a  fear  that  he  may  not  have  seen  the  parts 
exactly  as  they  are,  or  not  have  had  a  "typical"  form  to  draw 
from.  In  this  instance  our  artist  had  nothing  but  the  livinor 
plant  to  work  by,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  details 
given  fit  in  with  the  botanical  description  of  the  learned  authors 
quoted.  The  rough  and  hirsute  character  of  the  herb  is  very 
well  shown.  The  corymbous  character  (the  flower  stalks  all 
coming  out  nearly  together  and  all  about  the  same  length)  is 
seen  at  Fig.  i.  The  alternate  leaves  show  at  Fig.  2,  2,  and  they 
have  the  exact  form  and  characters  described;  the  root  leaf  (3) 
being  petiolate  or  on  a  stalk,  and  the  upper  one  (4)  being 
sessile.  The  manner  in  which  the  rays  are  tardily  deciduous  is 
well  shown  at  5  by  the  three  lingering  petals  on  the  faded  flower, 
and  the  fresh  flowers  show  the  number  of  ray  petals  as  given. 
How  the  ray  flower  is  situated  in  the  axils  of  the  inner  scales  is 
shown  at  6.     The  three-seried   involucre  is  seen  at  7  with  the 


ENGELMANNIA  PINNATIFIUA. CUT-LEAVED  ENGELMANN  FLOWER.    I  I 

exterior  row  the  shortest,  and  all  abruptly  narrowed  at  8.  The 
"receptacle  flat"  (8)  shows  a  slight  variation — "flattish"  might 
answer,  but  scarcely  flat.  At  9  we  have  the  persistent  chaff, 
foliaceous,  and  with  hairy  tip,  partly  enclosing  the  sterile  flower 
(10);  those  adherent  to  the  involucral  scale  we  see  at  11.  The 
oblong  ligule  of  the  ray  floret  we  have  at  12,  and  the  sterile  one 
(10)  dilated,  that  is  swelling,  upward  and  fine-toothed.  At  13 
we  have  the  undivided  hispid  style.  The  akene  or  seed  we 
need  not  number,  but  its  equal  length  to  the  scale  on  the  back,  its 
form,  with  the  one  ridge  in  front,  as  it  is  crowned  with  the 
fringed  scales,  are  accurately  given. 

By  tracing  thus  how  well  botanist  and  artist  have  done  their 
several  parts,  we  are  able  at  the  same  time  to  aid  the  student,  by 
the  references,  to  a  familiarity  with  the  various  parts  of  the 
flower.  The  difference  between  the  ray  floret  (10)  and  the 
fertile  floret  (12)  is  very  striking.  The  perfect  pistil  (14)  we 
see  is  deeply  divided  into  two  branches,  while  in  the  disc  floret 
the  pistil  (13)  develops  no  further  than  to  a  mere  thread  incapable 
of  performing  any  function.  The  mass  of  stamens,  however, 
which  we  see  at  15,  perfect  pollen,  and  it  is  from  these  that  the 
stigmas  (14)  receive  it.  Most  of  the  composite  plants  we  have 
so  far  had  occasion  to  figure  have  had  fertile  disc  florets,  and 
the  chance  to  study  a  case  where  the  facts  are  reversed  will  be 
very  interesting  to  the  student. 

Torrey  and  Gray,  from  the  work  we  have  quoted,  say:  "Ihis 
genus  intermediate  between  Silphium  and  Parthcniiuu,  is  dedi- 
cated to  our  esteemed  correspondent,  Dr.  George  Engelmann, 
of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  who  has  for  several  years  assiduously 
studied  the  plants  of  Missouri,  Arkansas,  etc.,  and  made  valu- 
able contributions  to  many  European  collections,  as  well  as  to 
this  work."  This  was  in  1840.  Since  then  Dr.  Engelmann  has 
added  immensely  to  his  botanical  fame,  by  continuous  and  valua- 
ble botanical  work.  Although  a  physician  in  extensive  practice, 
he  takes  up,  between  the  times  spent  in  professional  duties, 
special  and  difficult  genera,  and  thoroughly  masters  tJKMn.     Thus 


I  2   ENGELMAXNIA  PINNATIFIDA, CUT-LEAVED  ENGELMANN  FLOWER. 

he  is  esteemed  by  the  botanical  world  as  its  leading  authority  on 
American  Oaks,  Coniferous  trees,  Agaves,  Yucca,  Cuscuta,  Juncus 
or  the  Rushes,  Cactacese  and  many  others.  He  is  not  a  native 
of  this  country,  but  was  born  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  on  the 
2d  of  February,  1809,  so  that  he  is  now  in  his  seventieth  year, 
and  is  still  actively  engaged  in  his  favorite  study.  He  pub- 
lished his  first  botanical  work  in  Germany;  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1832,  when  but  twenty  years  of  age;  and,  two  years  later, 
settled  in  St.  Louis,  where  he  has  ever  since  remained.  No 
American  botanist  is  more  esteemed  for  his  many  virtues  as  well 
as  for  his  work  than  Dr.  Encrelmann,  and  we  are  elad  that  he 
will  be  ever  remembered  in  connection  with  this  pretty  fiower. 

Nuttall,  who  collected  this  plant,  thought  it  was  a  species  of 
SilpJiiiLin.  No  other  species  but  the  one  we  figure  has  been 
found,  though  a  marked  variety  is  noted  in  the  account  of  Lind- 
heimer's  Texan  plants.  Dr.  Torrey  in  the  Annals  of  the  New 
York  Lyccnni,  published  in  1820,  notices  the  species  as  having 
been  collected  by  Dr.  James  on  the  Canadian  river.  Nuttall 
and  Dr.  Leavenworth  are  credited  with  collecting  it  on  the  Red 
river,  in  Arkansas;  Drummond  found  it  in  Texas;  and  Marcy's 
expedition  in  the  Witchita  mountains. 

For  the  opportunity  of  making  our  drawing  we  are  indebted 
to  the  Bussey  Institution,  where  it  was  growing  under  the  care 
of  Mr.  Jackson  Dawson,  of  the  Arnold  arboretum. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate.— See  text. 


VUL.  ill. 


T\tt^t  r\r\^r\Tsnc\     ^  T\T  A"niTTT3r\T  TTTO 


DIPLOPAPPUS  LINARIIFOLIUS. 
SANDPAPER   STAR-WORT. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    COMPOSIT.E. 

DlPLOPAPPUS  LINARIIFOLIUS,  Hooker. — Stem  straight,  roiighish;  branches  one-flovvered,  fasti- 
giate;  scales  imbticate,  carinate,  as  long  as  the  disk;  leaves  linear,  entire,  one-veined, 
macronate,  carinate,  rough,  rigid,  those  of  the  branches  recurved.  Stems  sub-simple,  pur- 
plish, about  one  foot  high.  Leaves  numerous,  obtuse,  vv'ith  a  small  mucronate  point, 
shining  above.  Branchlets  near  the  top,  leafy,  each  with  one  rather  large  and  showy, 
violet-colored  head.  (Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.  Sen  ^\?,o  Gray's  Majtiml  of  Botany 
of  the  N'orthern  United  States,  and  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.) 


LARGE  number  of  the  composite  or  asteraceous  plants 
of  our  country  have  a  some-what  coarse  foliage  or  habit 
of  growth,  with  which  the  present  elegant  species  is  in  strik- 
ing contrast.  In  some  parts  of  the  world,  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  especially,  there  are  many  with  such  a  slender  and  pleas- 
ing habit  as  this ,  and  indeed  a  first  glance  at  our  species  by 
one  familiar  with  the  vegetation  of  those  distant  parts  of  the 
world  would  create  the  impression,  in  the  absence  of  positive 
knowledge,  that  it  was  an  exotic  plant.  Indeed,  there  are  species 
of  this  same  genus,  Diplopappus,  native  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  as  well  as  to  the  United  States.  These  relationships  with 
the  Flora  of  such  distant  parts  of  the  world  are  always  of  great 
interest  to  the  student  of  botanical  geography.  The  species, 
however,  are  not  very  numerous  there  or  here.  Even  allowing 
for  some  which  may  perhaps  rightfully  belong  to  other  genera, 
there  may  not  be  many  over  a  couple  of  dozen  of  species  in  all. 
It  was  originally  classed  with  Aster;  and  in  fact  there  is  very 
little  beyond  the  general  habit  and  appearance  to  distinguish  it. 
The  "Treasury  of  Botany"  tells  us  the  genus  is  "very  near  Aster, 
and  only  differing  in  the  nature  of  the  pappus,  which  is  double,  the 

03) 


14  DIPLOrAl'PUS    LINARIIFOLTUS. SANDPAPER    STAR-WORT. 

outer  row  of  short,  stiff  bristles,  the  inner  of  capillary  bristles  as 
.long  as  the  disk  florets;  while  in  Astei'  the  pappus  is  single." 
The  fact  is,  this  is  one  of  those  cases  where  general  appearance 
suggests  differences  which  science  can  scarcely  find.  Very  few 
would  take  our  present  species  for  an  Aster  when  first  found. 
Its  general  resemblance  is  with  the  genus  known  as  DiplopappiLs, 
but  in  this  species  the  student  will  scarcely  find  the  double  pap- 
pus, the  outer  row  being  nearly  wanting.  In  preparing  our  Fig. 
2,  it  was  a  point  to  show  this,  but  it  is  so  very  small  that  without 
a  laroer  diao^ram  it  cannot  be  seen.  Our  botanical  te.xt-books 
scarcely  give  a  correct  idea  of  the  small  size.  Dr.  Chapman 
merely  says  of  all  the  genus,  "pappus  of  capillary  bristles  in  two 
rows,  the  outer  row  much  shorter,"  with  nothinq;  as  to  the  lencrth 
in  this  species.  Dr.  Gray  in  the  "Manual"  says  the  "outer  series 
is  of  very  short,  stiff  bristles,"  and  "very  short  bristles  "  in  the 
•'  School  Botany,"  Professor  Wood  alone  comes  down  to  figures, 
and  he  tells  us  that  the  exterior  pappus  is  "  half  a  line  long," 
which  is  one  twenty-fourth  of  an  inch.  It  is  a  slender  character 
to  build  a  genus  on,  and  which  perhaps  would  not  have  been 
thought  of  in  this  connection  only  for  the  very  different  habit  and 
appearance  of  the  group  from  Aster  in  general,  as  already  noted. 
Dr.  Gray,  indeed,  classes  it  as  Aster  linariifolius  in  "  School 
Botany,"  though  he  notes  that  this  is  "of  the  old  botanists,  but 
is  strictly  Diplopappus  linariifolius^ 

The  name  Diplopappus  is  from  two  Greek  words — diploos, 
double,  and  pappus,  an  old  man ;  the  latter  name  in  botany  has 
been  given  to  the  usually  gray  hair-like  crown  which  surmounts 
the  seeds  in  so  many  compound  flowers,  and  is  especially  like  a 
gray  head  in  the  well-known  Dandelion.  In  our  Fig,  2  we  see 
what  is  known  as  the  "  inner  row  "  of  the  pappus,  almost  enclos- 
ing the  floret,  as  the  little  flower  is  called. 

As  already  noted  by  Dr.  Gray,  the  plant  was  known  as  Aster 
by  the  older  botanists,  and  under  this  name  it  appears  in  Ra)'s 
Catalogue  about  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  as  the  "nar- 
row rosemarv-leaved  aster  of  Marvland."  that  celebrated  author 


DIPLOPAPPUS    LINARIIFOLIUS. SANDPAPER    STAR- WORT.  I  5 

having  perhaps  been  made  acquainted  with  it  by  his  correspondent, 
the  Rev.  John  Bannister.  Linnaeus  knew  it  as  Aster  linariifolius, 
Michaux  as  Aster  rigidtis,  and  Nuttall  included  it  in  his  genus 
Chrysopsis  as  C  linainifolia.  The  genus  Diplopcxppus  was  founded 
by  Cassini  in  a  paper  pubHshed  in  a  Paris  magazine  in  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century.  The  genus  Aster  is  so  very  large 
that  though  the  distmction  between  it  and  Diplopappus  is  small, 
the  division,  if  at  all  well  founded,  must  be  acceptable  to  students. 
It  will  be  noted  by  those  fond  of  accuracy  that  the  common  con- 
struction of  the  specific  name,  linariifolius — that  is,  "leaves  like 
or  belonging  to  the  linaria" — is  not  according  to  Ladn  rules, 
Linaria  should  form  its  genitive  linariai  =  linarisefolius,  and  we 
have  to  acknowledge  our  ignorance  of  any  valid  reason  for  the 
orthography  in  general  use. 

The  species  affords  a  very  pretty  botanical  lesson  in  the  devel- 
opment of  its  axial  buds  to  branches,  and  these  again  to  flowers. 
As  we  see  in  our  plate,  no  buds  grow  from  the  axils  of  the  lower 
leaves,  but  gradually  a  few  axillary  leaves  appear  as  the  stem 
elongates,  undl  the  latter  is  suddenly  suppressed,  when  the  axial 
growths  become  stronger,  and  while  some  of  them  never  become 
more  than  litde  branches,  others  go  on  to  complete  flowers.  The 
sudden  arrest  of  growth  in  the  main  stem  accelerates  that  of  the 
branchlets,  and  we  can  see  that  it  was  this  sudden  stoppage  of 
growth  at  the  apex  which  gave  the  graded  impulse  downwards, 
and  which  resulted  in  the  growth  of  the  axial  buds.  Precisely 
the  same  effect  is  produced  in  any  growing  shoot  by  artificially 
arresdng  its  growth^that  is,  by  pinching  out  its  terminal  bud. 
We  know  that  these  sudden  arrests  or  sudden  acceleradons  of 
growth  are  the  foundation  of  many  wonderful  changes  in  the 
forms  of  flowers  and  the  general  characters  of  plants;  but  atten- 
tion having  but  recendy  been  drawn  to  these  simple  facts,  the 
laws  which  induce  these  rythmic  growths  are  not  yet  understood. 
Besides  furnishing  a  valuable  lesson  in  botany,  it  is  a  beauuful 
plant ;  and  those  who  grow  it  in  gardens  generally  esteem  it 
highly  on  this  account.     It  is  one  of  the  last  of  floral  charms  to 


I  6  DIPLOPAPPUS    LINARIIFOLIUS. SANDPAPER    STAR-WORT. 

leave  us,  the  seeds  being  scarcely  mature  In  Pennsylvania  by  the 
time  the  severe  frosts  come.  The  height  of  its  season  in  that 
State  is  October,  though  it  commences  to  flower  in  September. 
Prof.  Wood  places  it  a  month  earlier  than  this.  It  is  generally 
found  in  dry,  hilly,  rather  open  woods,  from  Canada  to  Florida, 
along  the  Adantic  coast;  but  it  lessens  its  northern  range  as  it 
proceeds  west,  and  is  not  found  on  the  other  side  of  the  Missouri 
or  Mississippi, 

It  is  more  favored  than  many  of  its  allies  in  being  of  some  use 
to  man  in  other  ways  beside  its  beauty,  for  in  South  Carolina, 
where  it  is  rather  abundant,  the  leaves  are  used  as  a  substitute 
for  sandpaper  in  polishing  horn. 


Explanations   of   the    Plate. — i.  Branch  from  several  that  formed  a  low   bushy   plant. 
2.  Magnified  disk  floret. 


% 


5. 


rj 


'Z 


ONOCLEA  SENSIBILIS. 
SENSITIVE   FERN. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    FILICES; 

Onoclea  SENSIBILIS,  Liiinasus. — Sterile  fronds  oblong-triangukr;  pinnre  lanceolate, — the  lowfer 
ones  distinct,  pinnatifid-dentate,— -the  upper  confluent,  repand-dentate,  or  entire.  Sterile 
frond  six  to  fifteen  inches  long,  and  five  to  twelve  inches  wide  at  the  base;  lower  pinnce 
three  to  six  inches  long;  stipe  six  to  ten  inches  long,  slender,  angular,  naked.  Fertile 
fronds  four  to  eight  or  ten  inches  long ;  pinn:s  one  to  three  inches  long,  nearly  erect ;  pin- 
nules triangular-globose,  smoothish,  dark  brown,  resembling  berries  in  two-rowed  unilat- 
eral spikes;  stipes  eight  to  twelve  inches  long,  rather  stout,  terete,  naked.  (Darlington's 
Flora  Cestrica.  See  also  Gray's  Flora  of  the  N'orihern  United  States,  Chapman's  Flora 
of  the  Southern  United  States,  Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany,  and  Williamson's  Ferns  of 
Kentucky.) 

OST  intelligent  persons  know  that  according  to  the  mod- 
ern discoveries  in  geology,  plants  existed  on  the  earth 
ages  before  man  made  his  appearance  thereon  ;  and  that  in 
regard  to  the  plants  themselves,  numerous  races  have  lived 
and  died  of  which  we  know  nothing  now  beyond  a  few  traces 
here  and  there  of  a  few  species  which  have  been  preserved  to  us 
in  the  shape  of  fossil  remains.  As  to  the  manner  of  the  appear- 
ance and  disappearance  of  these  races,  as  the  ages  followed  each 
other  in  due  course,  there  are  differences  of  opinion.  Some 
believe  that  the  newer  forms  have  been  evolved  from  the  oldef 
ones  by  slow  and  almost  imperceptible  degrees.  We  find,  in 
our  time,  by  closely  watching  seedling  plants,  that  no  two  are 
exact  reproductions  of  their  parents,  or  exacdy  like  each  other ; 
and  if  we  are  not  disposed  to  think  that  these  variations  revolve 
in  a  circle,  but  are  continuously  in  a  direct  line,  it  will  not  be  dif- 
ficult to  believe  that  the  accumulation  of  small  differences  may 
in  time  present  a  structure  very  different  from  what  we  may 
imagine  the  first  parent  to  have  been.     In  this  way  those  who 

U7) 


I  8  ONOCLEA    SENSIBILIS. SENSITIVE    lERN. 

are  known  as  Evolutionists  account  for  the  great  variations 
between  living  forms  and  those  which  existed  in  the  earlier 
•---eoloo-ic  ages.  There  are  other  scientific  men  who  regard 
these  differences  between  the  early  and  recent  floras  as  the  result 
of  sudden  geologic  or  cosmic  catastrophes,  destroying  existing 
forms,  and  almost  contemporaneously  succeeding  with  new 
ones ;  and  who  believe  that  if  any  did  not  happen  to  come 
wholly  within  the  range  of  these  great  disturbing  influences, 
there  would  be  no  reason  why  a  form  might  not  continue  without 
material  change  for  countless  ages. 

These  geological  discussions  have  a  peculiar  interest  in  con- 
nection with  our  present  subject,  the  Sensitive  Fern,  for  its 
remains  are  found  in  some  very  old  geological  formations  in 
which  vegetable  remains  exist,  and  precisely  in  the  form  in 
which  we  find  it  now.  According  to  Professor  Daw^son,  of 
Montreal,  it  was  in  existence  near  the  Cretacean  age,  or  that 
time  in  the  earth's  history  when  only  reptiles  crawled  over  the 
surface,  and  the  mammalian  or  sucking  animals  had  not  yet 
appeared.  In  Dr.  Dawson's  own  language,  in  his  address  to 
the  Natural  History  section  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  delivered  at  Detroit  in  1875,  he 
says:  'Tn  a  collection  of  fossil  plants  from  what  may  be  termed 
beds  of  transition  from  the  Cretaceous  to  the  Tertiary,  I  find 
among  other  modern  species  two  recent  ferns  most  curiously 
associated.  One  is  the  common  Onoclca  scnsibilis,  found  now 
very  widely  over  North  America,  and  which  in  the  so-called  mio- 
cene  times  (about  the  middle  of  the  mammalian  era  preceding 
man)  lived  in  Europe  also.  The  other  is  Davallia  tcnnifolia,  .  .  . 
still  abundant  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific  (and  Dr.  Dawson 
might  have  added,  still  growing  with  the  Onoclca  there).  These 
litde  ferns  are  thus  probably  older  than  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  the  Himalayas,  and  reach  back  to  a  tinie  when  Mesozoic 
Dinosaurs  were  becoming  exdnct,  and  the  earliest  Placental 
mammals  being  introduced.  Shall  we  say  that  these  two  ferns, 
and  along  with  them  our  two  species  of  Hazel  and  many  other 


ONOCLEA    SENSIBILIS. SENSITIVE    FERN.  I  9 

familiar  plants,  have  propagated  themselves  unchanged  for  half 
a  million  years?  "  It  is  impossible  to  look  on  this  beautiful  fern 
without  a  species  of  veneration  for  its  wonderful  antiquity. 

Some  have  thought,  however,  that  it  shows  some  disposition  to 
change,  and  have  named  one  supposed  variation — O.  obhisilobata. 
But  even  this  has  been  ascertained  in  modern  times  to  be  only  a 
phase  of  development  in  the  transformation  of  the  frond  to  the 
reproductive  condition,  for  the  mass  of  fruit  (Fig.  3)  is  nothing 
but  the  frond  (Fig.  2)  in  a  very  much  changed  state.  If  we  take 
any  fern,  say  the  common  Polypody,  we  shall  see  that  the  first 
leaves  are  barren,  that  is,  have  no  fruit  dots  on  their  under  sur- 
faces, while  others  are  completely  covered  with  sori  or  fruit  dots. 
Still  there  is  a  general  resemblance  between  the  fertile  fronds 
and  the  fronds  with  sori  on  them.  But  in  the  case  of  our  sensi- 
tive fern,  the  portions  of  the  frond  on  which  the  fruit  dots  are 
placed  have  rolled  backwards  and  completely  enveloped  the 
mass  of  sori,  giving  to  this  fruiung  "frond"  the  appearance  of 
a  cluster  of  "berries,"  as  Dr.  Darlington  expresses  it.  Now,  the 
variety  obtitsilobata  is  simply  a  frond  in  an  imperfectly  developed 
fertile  condition.  There  are  fewer  sori  on  the  frond  than  in  the 
form  we  generally  see,  and  the  lobes  do  not  recurve  very  much, 
but  retain  a  good  portion  of  the  regular  frondose  condition. 
This  form  is  not  unfrequently  met  with,  and  is  very  welcome  to 
the  young  student  as  giving  the  key  to  the  structure  of  the  more 
advanced  fruiting  frond. 

The  manner  in  which  this  fertile  frond  succeeds  the  barren  one 
will  be  found  particularly  interesting  to  the  close  observer.  Fig. 
4  is  a  portion  of  the  rhizoma  or  underground  stem  taken  in  early 
winter.  The  first  leaves  of  the  season  come  out  in  a  nearly 
simultaneous  pair,  Figs.  5,  5,  and  seem  attached  to  the  side  of 
the  rhizoma  like  a  pair  of  grasshopper  legs.  After  this  effort 
others  are  produced  which  never  reach  a  condition  beyond  long, 
slender  scales.  Figs.  7,  7.  About  the  middle  of  summer  another 
single  one  is  formed  which  becomes  the  fertile  "  frond,"  Fig.  3, 
and  which  proceeded  from  Fig.  6.     Then  a  few  more  scales  are 


20  ONOCLEA    SENSIBILIS. SENSITIVE    FERN. 

produced,  and  finally,  at  the  end  of  the  season's  growth,  the 
young,  circinately  arranged  leaves  which  are  to  push  out  again 
into  barren  fronds  on  the  advent  of  spring. 

Modern  botanists  have  been  puzzled  to  account  for  its  name 
sensibilis,  or  sensitive  fern.  Linnaeus  simply  found  it  in  use  when 
he  established  the  binomial  system,  and  retained  what  he  found. 
Thomas  Moore,  an  authority  on  ferns,  says  it  "has  no  other  claim 
to  this  name  beyond  the  fact  of  its  rapidly  withering  when  cut." 
Mr.  Robinson  in  his  "Ferns  of  Essex  Co.,  Mass.,"  has  a  similar 
idea,  only  that  the  cutting  is  by  frost.  He  has  noted,  as  the 
WTiter  of  this  has,  that  the  slightest  white  frost  injures  the  fronds; 
but,  after  all,  frost  has  this  effect  on  many  other  of  our  hardy  ferns, 
and  one  cannot  but  wonder  why  this  one  more  than  others  should 
have  been  singled  out  as  especially  "sensitive"  on  that  account. 
Rafinesque,  in  his  "Medical  Flora,"  published  in  1828,  at  page 
67,  says  that  the  fronds  of  Onocica  sensibilis  are  "  sensible  to  a 
harsh  grasp,"  which  "  coils  them  when  plucked ;  "  but  this  seems 
to  be  rather  a  translation  of  what  Linnaeus  wrote  of  it  than  to 
be  an  observation  of  his  own.  How  far  coiling  may  have  sug- 
gested its  generic  name^  Onocica,  is  not  clear.  The  text-books  tell 
us  it  is  "from  0110s,  a  vessel,  and  klcio,  to  enclose,"  but  no  one 
can  exacdy  see  the  application.  One  tells  us  it  Is  "an  ancient 
name  of  Dioscorides,"  but  the  old  Greek  writer's  plant  seems  to 
have  had  something  in  connection  with  the  ass,  and  to  have  been 
perhaps  an  Anchusa  or  some  Boraginaccoiis  plant.  At  any  rate, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  original  meaning  or  derivation  of 
the  name,  we  can  only  know  that  our  plant  had  no  relation 
whatever  to  anything  the  Greeks  or  Romans  had  in  their  mind. 


Explanations  OF  THE  Plate. — i.  Rhizome.  2.  Barren  frond.  3.  Fertile  frond.  4.  Fil)ruiis 
roots  from  the  rhizome.  5.  Bases  of  the  barren  fronds.  6.  Base  of  the  fertile  frond.  7. 
Abortive  fronds  or  scales. 


/\(^>^ 


^ 


SARRACENIA  PSITTACINA. 
PARROT-HEADED    PITCHER-PLANT. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    SARRACENIACE/E. 


Sarracexia  PSITTACINA,  Michaux. — Leaves  short,  spreading ;  tube  slender,  broadly  winged, 
marked  with  white  spots,  and  reticulated  with  purple  veins;  lamina  globose,  inflated, 
incurved-beaked,  almost  closing  the  orifice  of  the  tube;  leaves  two  to  four  inches  long; 
scapes  one  foot  high.  (Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.  See  also  Wood's 
Class-Book  of  Botany.) 


HE  careful  reader  will  notice  that  in  Professor  Wood's 
''Class-Book"  (Ed.  1861,  before  us)  the  name  of  this 
plant  is  given  as  S.  psiticina;  but  this  is  evidently  one  of  those 
typographical  errors  which  even  the  most  careful  editor  will 
sometimes  overlook.  Dr.  Chapman  has  it  S.  Psittacina,  begin- 
ning the  specific  name  with  a  capital ;  and  as  typographical 
errors  are  -rare  in  this  work,  we  might  conclude  that  it  is  no  error 
of  the  press,  but  that  Dr.  Chapman  intended  it  to  read  this  way. 
There  appears,  however,  to  be  no  reason  why  it  should  be  so  ; 
and  we  have  changed  it  in  the  botanical  quotation  made  from  his 
work.  This  may  seem  a  small  matter  to  some,  but  as  our  work 
is  intended  for  the  novices  in  botanical  studies  as  well  as  for 
those  who  are  more  accomplished,  we  take  the  occasion  to 
explain  why  capitals  are  sometimes  used  in  the  specific  name. 
Generic  names  are  always  commenced  with  a  capital ;  specific 
ones  only  when  derived  from  proper  names.  Thus  Sarracenia 
rubra  claims  a  capital  only  for  the  generic  name  ;  rubra,  or  red, 
being  a  common  and  not  a  proper  name,  does  not  require  it. 
There  are  two  capitals  in  S.  Drummondii,  the  last  word  meaning 
of  or  belonging  to  Mr.  Drummond.  Sometimes  however  a 
name  which,  under  some  circumstances,  may  have  been  a  generic 


2  2     SARRACENIA    PSITTACINA. PARROT-HEADED    PITCHER-PLANT. 

one,  becomes  merely  that  of  a  species,  in  which  case,  though  it 
might  have  been  derived  originally  from  a  common  name,  it  fol- 
lows its  "  proper  "  form.  Now  psittaaLS  is  Latin  for  a  parrot,  and 
a  botanist  might  make  a  genus  under  a  name  derived  from  this 
word.  In  time  it  might  be  moved  to  Sarracenia,  when  in  order 
to  carry  along  its  ancient  history  it  would  be  called  Saj-racenia 
Psittacina.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  this  has  ever  been  the 
case  with  our  present  plant,  and  therefore  under  the  rules  the 
capital  should  be  avoided. 

Indeed  our  present  species  was  not  known  to  the  earlier 
botanists  ;  S.  flava  and  S.  purpiwca  being  the  only  two  that  seem 
to  be  referred  to  in  Clayton's  collection.  Michaux,  who  gave  it 
the  name  of  psittacina,  was  nearly  the  first  to  notice  it  as  being 
particularly  distinct  from  others,  though  it  was  supposed  to  be 
a  form  of  S.  rubra,  when  taken  to  England  by  Frazer  in  1786. 
The  earlier  botanists  seem  to  have  had  much  difficulty  in  distin- 
guishing it  from  S.  rubra  ;  and  Croom  made  a  new  species  of  one 
form  under  the  name  of  S.  pulchella,  which  is  now  however 
referred  to  S.  psittacina.  Croom  himself  was  the  first  to  identify 
it.  In  "  Silliman's  Journal  "  for  1834,  he  says:  "  Ever  since  I  met 
with  the  species  of  Sarraccjiia  of  which  I  gave  some  account  in 
this  journal  for  October  last,  under  the  name  of  S.  pulchella,  I 
have  felt  a  suspicion  that  it  is  the  true  original  of  Michaux'  6^. 
psittacina,  which  later  botanists  have  united  with  S.  rubra  of 
Walter,  but  from  which  this  species  is  very  distinct,  and  forming 
an  apparently  intermediate  species  between  S.  variolaris  and  S. 
rubra.  .  .  .  As  I  have  before  remarked,  the  appendix  of  this 
species  resembles  the  head  of  a  parrot,  and  it  is  the  only  spe- 
cies in  which  the  resemblance  is  striking.  The  leaves  too  are 
shorter  than  those  of  either  of  those  of  the  other  species,  and 
therefore  particularly  deserving  the  application  of  the  word 
'brevibus  ;'  while  those  of  S.  rubra,  so  far  as  my  observation  has 
extended,  are  as  long  as,  and  even  longer  than  S.  variolaris. 
The  white  spots  in  the  leaves,  w^hich  I  have  mentioned,  may  be 
what  Michaux  meant  by  the  term  '  coloratis,'  while  their  purple 


SARRACENIA    PSITTACINA, TARROT-HEADED    PITCHER-PLANT.      23 

veins  (which  I  omitted  to  mention)  are  well  expressed  by 
venoso-reticulatis.  In  my  former  account  the  description  which  I 
gave  of  the  longitudinal  wing  is  faulty.  Instead  of  lanceolate,  the 
term  semi-lanceolate  would  have  better  conveyed  the  idea  I 
intended — broad  above,  narrowing  to  a  point  below."  We  give 
this  litde  piece  of  history  from  Croom,  in  order  that  moderns 
may  see  what  difficuldes  the  early  botanists  had  in  searching  for 
the  facts,  and  how  thankful  we  may  be  that  their  labors  have 
made  matters  so  clear  and  plain  for  us. 

That  the  plant  is  variable  we  can  well  imagine  after  readincr 
what  Croom  and  Chapman  say,  and  comparing  it  with  our 
plate,  which  is  a  faithful  copy  of  one  growing  in  the  Cambridge 
Botanical  Garden,  which  has  not  the  white  spots  nor  purple 
veins.  The  leaves  in  our  plate  are  however  very  young,  as 
this  species  flowers  among  the  earliest,  and  while  the  new 
growth  is  being  made.  Mr.  A.  P.  Garber  says,  in  the  "  Botan- 
ical Gazette,"  that  he  has  seen  it  nearly  in  flower  at  Pilatka, 
in  Florida,  on  the  i6th  of  February. 

The  broad  wing  of  the  leaf  in  the  Parrot  pitcher-plant,  as 
referred  to  by  the  botanical  authorities,  is  one  of  the  most 
striking  features  of  this  species.  As  will  be  seen  by  our  plate 
the  leaf  is  nearly  all  wing,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  tubular  portion 
enough  left  to  warrant  us  in  calling  it  a  pitcher  at  all.  As  our 
readers  know,  the  pitchers  in  Sarracenia  have  been  supposed  to 
be  special  contrivances  to  catch  insects  to  aid  in  nourishing  the 
plant.  Mr.  Nuttall  scouted  this  idea.  He  says:  "The  tubes 
are  commonly  crowded  with  dead  flies  and  other  insects,  perish- 
ing in  imprisonment  by  one  of  the  wonderful  but  simple  acci- 
dents of  nature, — a  lesson  for  the  incautious, — but  no  proof  of 
instinct  or  necessity  in  the  passive  Sai^raccnia,  which  could 
probably  well  maintain  its  vegetadon  without  the  aid  of  dead 
insects — a  remark  equally  applicable  to  many  other  plants 
which  accidentally  prove  fatal  lo  insects,  such  as  the  wonderful 
Dioncea,  which  in  its  native  swamps  as  frequently  catches  straws 
as  flies,  and  will  equally  enfold  anything,  so  subject  is  it  in  this 


24     SARKACENIA    PSITTACINA. PARROT-HEADED    PITCHER-PLANT. 

respect  to  the  blindness  of  accident."  It  is  not  our  purpose  to 
enter  into  any  controversial  questions  in  this  work,  but  to  give 
enough  of  facts  on  all  sides  to  enable  the  student  to  form  judg- 
ments for  himself.  Without  therefore  saying  that  the  Pitcher- 
plants  are  designed  expressly  to  catch  and  use  insects  as  food,  we 
may  remark  that  Mr.  Nuttall's  argument  does  not  prove  that 
they  are  not,  for  nature  evidently  loves  to  do  any  one  thing  in  a 
great  variety  of  ways.  It  may  even  be  questioned  whether  the 
pitcher-leaved  Sarracenias  could  maintain  their  vegetation  quite 
as  well  without  the  water  and  insects.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
how  little  leaf  surface  there  is  to  act  as  in  other  plants.  Scarcely 
anything  is  left  but  the  pitcher's  lid  capable  of  absorbing  matter 
from  the  atmosphere.  Nature  indeed  seems  to  look  on  the 
pitcher  as  a  substitute  for  leaf  surface.  In  our  present  species, 
which  has  no  insect-catching  pitchers  worth  speaking  of,  she 
seems  to  have  thought  it  necessary  to  compensate  for  this 
absence  in  the  broad  green  wing,  which  is  indeed  the  leaf  of 
an  ordinary  plant  in  all  that  relates  to  general  functional  power. 
Having  no  pitcher,  it  had  to  have  leaves.  Arguments  of  this 
kind  are  not  however  what  the  best  botanists  accept.  Instead 
of  looking  exclusively  to  what  a  plant  may  do  by  evident  ability 
from  adaptation,  what  it  actually  does  do  is  the  safer  field  for 
investigation. 

The  Parrot  pitcher-plant  is  confined  to  a  small  strip  of  our 
great  country,  between  Louisiana  and  Florida  to  Georgia. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate.— i.  Flowering  plant  with  the  newly  pushing  leaves.  2.  The 
broad  wing.  3.  Old  leaf  (of  previous  year),  showing  close  resemblance  to  a  parrot  head. 
4.  Cut-off  portion,  showing  the  very  narrow  tube.  5.  Showing  the  "  five-cleft,  umbrella 
style"  of  Dr.  Chapman. 


^^  JtJbrarjr 


LILIUM  CANADENSE. 
AMERICAN    YELLOW   LILY. 

NATURAL    ORDER.    LILIACE/EA. 


LiLiUM  Canadense,  LiniiJEUs. — Leaves  ihree-veined,  mostly  verticillate,  lanceolate,  the  veins 
hairy  beneath;  peduncles  terminal,  elongated,  usually  by  threes;  flowers  nodding,  the 
segments  spreading,  never  revolute.  Bulb  scaly.  Stem  round,  two  to  four  feet  high, 
surrounded  by  several  remote  whorls,  each  consisting  of  four  to  six  leaves,  and  often  a  few 
scattered  ones  at  the  base.  These  are  two  to  three  inches  long  by  the  half  to  one  inch 
wide.  Flowers  one  to  three,  sometimes  seven  to  twenty,  pendulous,  yellow,  or  orange- 
colored,  spotted  with  dark  purple  inside.  (Wood's  Class-Book  of  Bohiiiy.  See  also 
Gray's  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States,  and  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern 
United  States.) 


ONGFELLOW,    in    his   beautiful    poem    of    "Flowers," 
sings  of 

"Gorgeous  flowerets  in  the  sunlight  shining, 
Blossoms  flaunting  in  the  eye  of  day." 

He  may  have  had  a  sunflower  in  his  mind,  or  it  may  have  been 
many  another  flower ;  but  there  are  few  things  "in  the  sunlight 
shining,"  and  flaunting  their  "blossoms  in  the  eye  of  day"  more 
gorgeously  than  the  various  species  of  our  native  lilies.  Indeed 
the  Lily  is  ever  beautiful,  is  famed  for  its  loveliness  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and  has  been  celebrated  in  song  and  story  in  all 
ages.  Its  very  name  is  contemporaneous  with  history,  having 
been  used  by  Homer;  and  its  literal  meaning  is  "the  most 
charming  of  all  flowers."  The  ancients  imagined  that  the  red 
Lily  was  the  first  to  be  created,  and  modern  authors  believe  that 
the  martagon  Lily  is  the  species  they  referred  to.  The  Latin 
writers  speak  of  it  as  "Lilium  intortum  ;"  and  as  the  martagon 
turns  its  petals  very  much  back  upon  itself,  it  seems  to  agree 
so  far  with  dieir  descripdon.     As  is  the  case  with  most  of  the 

(20 


26  LILIUM    CANADENSE. AMERICAN    YELLOW    LILY. 

flowers  which  they  highly  esteemed,  they  gave  to  the  red  Lily  a 
miraculous  origin.  It  is  said  that  a  very  excellent  young  god- 
dess, Sylvia,  who  was  as  fair  as  she  was  good,  had  but  a  poor 
opinion  of  Jupiter,  who  paid  his  addresses  to  her.  Jupiter  was 
not  accustomed  to  such  rebuffs,  and  treated  the  fair  lady  rather 
rouo-hly ;  but  she  was  so  shocked  at  such  rudeness,  that  her  nose 
suddenly  took  to  bleeding,  and  from  a  few  drops  which  fell  to 
the  ground  the  red  Lily  sprung.  The  white  Lily  is  said  to  be  a 
later  creation,  and  to  have  sprung  from  the  milk  of  Juno,  and, 
we  are  sorry  to  say,  when  she  was  in  a  somewhat  intoxicated 
condition  from  imbibing  too  freely  of  nectar.  Considering  the 
more  respectable  origin  of  the  red  Lily,  it  seems  scarcely  just 
that  most  of  the  best  Lily-poetry  has  been  given  to  the  white  ; 
and  that  the  white  Lily,  not  satisfied  with  what  may  be  fairly  her 
due,  has  taken  some  that  belongs  of  right  to  her  darker  sister : 
for  the  Lily  which  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  could  not  compete 
with  was  much  more  probably  of  the  red  than  the  white  kind. 
If  we  are  asked  to 

"  Bring  Lilies  for  a  maiden's  grave," 

or  if,  on  Percival's  invitation,  we  go  to 

"  a  sweet  green  spot 


Where  a  Lily  is  blooming  fair," 

or,  with  Keats,  to  look  at  one 

"  who  grew 


Like  a  pale  flower  by  some  sad  maiden  cherished," 

or  to  see  the 

"  Lady  lily  gently  looking  down," 

or  in  fact  to  imagine  any  poetic  Lily  whatever,  the  chance  is 
that  we  shall  be  called  on  to  go  where  the 

"  Queen  of  the  field,  in  a  milk-white  mantle  drest, 
The  lovely  Lily  waved  her  curling  crest." 

It  is,  however,  some  satisfaction   to   feel  after  all    this   poetic 
sliedit    of  the  old  world  on    fair   Sylvia's  d<'votion   to   womanly 


LILIUM    CANADENSE. AMERICAN    YELLOV/    LILY,  27 

decorum,  that  the  new  world  may  fully  atone  for  the  Injustice, 
for  of  the  numerous  species  indigenous  to  America,  there  is  not 
one  white  among  them  all. 

Our  present  species,  Lilhtm  Canadcnsc,  or  American  yellow 
Lily,  we  believe  to  be  the  earliest  of  all  our  native  species  to 
flower;  for  though  it  is  not  so  stated  in  our  text-books,  it  is  not 
unusual  to  find  it  in  bloom  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia  the  last 
of  May  or  very  early  in  June.  This  season  (1878)  particularly 
it  was  noted  that  not  a  single  flower  could  be  obtained  on  the 
20th  of  June,  all  being  over  blown  by  that  time.  The  flowers 
vary  very  much  in  color  from  deep  yellow  to  a  rich  crimson  in 
different  plants.  Much  remains  yet  to  be  learned  of  Lilies,  and 
especially  of  this  species.  There  is  a  form  of  it  from  Mississippi 
which  commences  to  flower  just  as  the  form  from  New  Jersey  goes 
out  of  bloom,  and  which  produces  no  seeds.  The  flowers  also 
are  of  a  richer  color,  and  more  revolute  than  Wood's  description 
would  imply.  Further  it  will  amply  repay  the  student  to  watch 
the  behavior  of  the  flowers  when  about  to  seed.  When  the  flower 
first  opens  it  hangs  on  its  sub-erect  stem,  the  pistil  curving  but 
little  upwards.  It  makes  no  growth  whatever  for  several  days, 
or  until  the  petals  begin  to  fade, — then  the  pistil  takes  an  upward 
curve,  sometimes  so  much  as  to  have  its  apex  pointing  towards 
the  ovary.  For  several  days  after  this  the  ovary  or  pistil  remains 
stationary,  when  at  length  the  former  assumes  a  straight  line 
with  the  pedicel,  and  finally  erect,  in  which  posidon  the  seed 
vessel  matures.  We  thus  see  that  growth  in  nature  is  not  by 
regular  advances ;  but  is  by  leaps,  or  as  we  say,  rhythmical. 

There  is  a  great  general  resemblance  between  the  species  of 
lilies,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  distinguish  one  from  another.  The 
yellow  Lily  approaches  the  L.  s2Lperbum,  but  is  generally  out  of 
flower  before  that  commences  to  open  ;  the  divisions  of  the  peri- 
anth or  flower  cup  as  a  general  rule  do  not  turn  back  quite  so 
much, — but  a  good  distincUon  lies  in  the  terminal  character  of 
the  flowers  in  the  best  specimens  of  our  species  ;  that  is,  the 
flowers  seem  to  come  out  in  a  bunch  or  cluster  at  the  top  of  the 


28  LILIUM    CANADENSE. AMERICAN    YELLOW    LILY. 

Stalk  as  shown  in  our  plate  (Fig.  i),  while  in  the  best  specimens 
of  L.  siLpcrbiun  the  flowers  are  more  or  less  axillary  as  well  as 
terminal,  though  in  poor  specimens  of  the  latter  when  there  are 
but  two  or  three  flowers  on  the  stalk,  they  are  only  terminal,  as 
in  L.  Canadense. 

The  Lily  increases  by  underground  stems.  These,  very  much 
arrested  in  their  development,  form  the  bulb,  as  may  be  seen  by 
the  great  number  of  small  scales,  each  of  which  is  the  represent- 
ative of  a  leaf  As  three  of  these  leaves  would  make  a  circle 
round  the  stem  if  alternately  scattered  as  they  are  on  many  allied 
plants,  we  may  have  some  idea  from  the  number  of  these  litde 
scales  how  long  the  lily  stem  would  be  if  accelerated  instead  of 
arrested  as  the  stems  or  branches  of  ordinary  plants  are.  As 
we  see  in  our  Figs.  2  and  3,  the  rhizoma  or  underground  stem 
pushes  out  from  the  base  of  the  last  year's  bulb  (Fig.  2),  gradu- 
ally thickening  as  it  approaches  the  end  of  its  season  of  growth. 
The  new  bulb  (Fig.  3)  in  the  case  illustrated  is  much  larger  than 
its  predecessor,  and  will  make  a  stronger  flower  stem  next  year. 

The  yellow  Lily  is  found  in  all  portions  of  the  United  States 
east  of  the  iNIississippi,  and  in  Arkansas  and  Minnesota,  skipping 
Kansas.  Some  closely  allied  forms  are  also  found  on  the  Pacific 
slope,  but  botanists  are  not  yet  agreed  as  to  whether  they  are 
really  disdnct  species  or  forms  of  this  one.  It  is  usually  lound 
in  wet.  open  meadows,  but  as  we  go  southwardly  it  is  found  only 
at  the  higher  elevations,  showing  that  its  real  home  centre  is 
towards  the  north. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  Top  of  an  averaged-sized  flower  stem,  from  Massaclnisett- 
2.  The  flowering  hull).     3.   New  hull)  for  flowering  the  next  year. 


SOLANUM    TORREYI. 
TORREY'S    SOLANUM. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  SOLANACE.E. 


SoLANUM  TORREYI,  Gray. — Cinereous  with  a  somewhat  close  furfuraceous  pubescence  composed 
of  about  equally  nine  to  twelve-rayed  hairs:  prickles  small  and  subulate,  scanty  along  the 
stem  and  midribs,  or  sometimes  nearly  wanting:  leaves  ovate  with  truncate  or  slightly 
cordate  base,  sinuately  five  to  seven-lobed  (tour  to  six  inches  long) ;  the  lobes  entire  or 
undulate,  obtuse,  unarmed:  cymes  at  first  terminal,  loose,  bifid  or  trifid ;  lobes  of  the 
calyx  (often  six)  short  ovate  with  a  long  abrupt  acumination.  Corolla  an  inch  and  a 
half  in  diameter;  its  lobes  broadly  ovate:  berry  globose,  an  inch  in  diameter,  yellow 
when  mature.     (Dr.  Asa  Gray  in  Synoptical  Flora  of  North  America.) 


HIS  beautiful  species  of  Solamini  has  a  very  brief  botan- 
ical history.  It  appears  to  have  been  met  with  by 
Lindheimer  in  Texas  in  1843,  "around  Houston,  the  Brazos,  etc." 
and  is  noted  in  an  account  of  his  collections  by  Engelmann  and 
Gray  in  1845.  ^t  was  then  not  well  understood,  and  referred 
doubtfully  to  an  old  Linnaian  species,  a  native  of  the  West  Indies, 
named  Solaimm  mavwiosiuu,  and  some  comparison  made  be- 
tween it  and  the  Solaimm  Carolinicnsc,  the  well-known  "  Horse- 
Nettle,"  so  troublesome  to  cultivators  in  many  parts  of  the  Union. 
Dr.  Gray  also  notes  in  the  "  Synopsis  "  that  one  described  as  .S". 
platyphyllum  by  Dr.  Torrey  is  to  be  regarded  as  this  species ;  the 
S.  platyphyllum  described  by  Humboldt,  Bonpland  and  Kunth 
from  South  America  being  something  else.  Torrey's  name 
being  therefore  appropriated  by  another,  according  to  botanical 
rules  the  plant  has  to  be  renamed,  and  thus  we  find  it  now,  as 
given  by  Dr.  Gray,  S,  Torreyi.  This  is  all  that  we  find  noted 
of  it  in  botanical  works.  Its  geographical  history  is  as  brief. 
Dr.  Gray  says  it  grows  on  "  Prairies,  etc. — in  Kansas  and  Texas." 
It  is  not  however  in  the  catalogue  of  Kansas  plants  recendy  issued 

(29) 


30  SOLANUM  TORKEVI. TORREY  S  SOLANUM. 

by  Professor  Snow,  and  is  probably  rare  in  that  State.  Indeed 
from  the  fact  that  while  so  many  collectors  have  been  over  both 
the  States  named  in  different  directions  it  does  not  appear  in 
their  lists,  it  is  probable  that  it  is  not  a  common  species.  If 
this  be  so  it  is  remarkable,  as  the  plant  increases  from  creeping 
under-ground  stems  ;  or  at  least  every  portion  of  its  roots,  when 
broken,  will  push  out  and  make  a  plant,  in  this  respect  much 
resembling  the  "  Horse-Nettle  "  before  referred  to,  and  which  is 
so  great  a  pest  that  in  Delaware  the  writer  has  known  cultivated 
ground  abandoned  on  account  of  its  existence.  It  is  well  to 
take  particular  notice  of  this  power  of  growth  possessed  by  the 
roots,  as  from  its  beauty  it  will  probably  be  sought  for  by  culti- 
vators, and  may  become  very  troublesome  unless  this  character 
be  well  known.  To  those  who  understand  it  litde  trouble  need 
arise  from  its  culture,  for  its  neighbor,  the  "  Horse-Nettle,"  is 
easily  kept  within  bounds  by  a  litde  watchfulness.  A  case  came 
under  the  writer's  notice  where  the  "  Horse-Nettle  "  had  estab- 
lished itself  profusely  before  it  was  observed,  but  on  its  discov- 
ery a  boy  was  set  to  dig  the  roots  out  carefully.  Broken  por- 
tions left  in  the  earth  orrew,  and  these  were  acrain  taken  out. 
This  was  repeated  three  times  during  the  season,  and  it  was 
believed  that  all  were  destroyed  ;  but  on  closely  watching,  a  few 
plants  were  found  the  next  year,  and  were  also  taken  out,  and 
no  more  appeared  any  time  afterwards.  This  was  on  a  large 
scale,  and  of  course  entailed  great  labor,  but  a  very  little  care 
would  be  sufficient  to  keep  a  single  plant  within  bounds  under 
garden  culture.  Its  beauty  well  deserves  any  little  attendon 
that  may  be  required  in  cultivating  it. 

Torrey's  Solanum,  while  it  has  not  much  history  of  its  own  to 
boast  of,  belongs  to  a  very  celebrated  genus.  In  numbers  th.ey 
are  enormous.  Don,  in  his  "  Dictionary  of  Gardening,"  pub- 
lished in  1838,  numbers  406  of  them,  without  including  the 
Tomato-like  species  and  others  which  were  regarded  as  Solamims 
by  Linnaeus.  Decandolle  in  his  "  Prodromus  "  gives  nine  hundred 
and   twenty  species!     So  that  a  critical   study  of  this  genus  is 


SOLANUM    TORKEVI. TURREV's    SOLANUM.  3 1 

almost  enough  for  one  man.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that 
the  greater  part  of  these  are  natives  of  the  American  Continent. 
They  mostly  love  heat,  however,  and  few  species  are  found  able 
to  endure  the  winter  of  the  United  States.  Dr.  Gray  has  less 
than  twenty  species  in  his  "Synopsis,"  and  some  of  these  are 
doubtfully  native. 

The  name  Solaniim  is  a  very  ancient  one,  and  no  one  now 
seems  to  know  to  what  plant  it  was  originally  applied,  or  w^hy 
the  name  was  given  to  whatever  plant  it  may  have  been.  Don 
says  it  is  "a  name  given  by  Pliny,  but  the  derivation  is  uncer- 
tain. Some  derive  it  from  Sol,  the  sun  ;  others  say  it  is  Solanum, 
from  Sus,  being  serviceable  in  disorders  of  swine  ;  and  others 
from  Solor,  to  comfort,  from  its  soothinor  narcotic  effects :  all 
these  conjectures  are,  however,  improbable."  vSome  botanists 
have  adopted  one,  some  another  of  these  conjectures,  but  Dr. 
Gray  decides  the  "derivation  uncertain."  It  may  be  noted 
however  that  the  first  and  last  suggestions  given  by  Don  are 
probably  the  same,  as  Solor  and  Sol  are  evidently  from  the  same 
root.  The  Ladn  poet  Virgil  evidently  uses  the  word  Sol  in  the 
application  to  clear  soothing  weather,  and  the  transition  in  this 
reladon  to  our  word  solace  is  evident  enough.  Ainsworth  in 
his  dicdonary  says  posidvely  Solanum  is  a  sole,  which  is  Ladn 
signifying  from  the  Sun.  All  that  is  certainly  known  is  that  by 
the  name  the  old  Greeks  and  Romans  had  in  view  some  sooth- 
ing or  narcotic  plant,  and  what  were  known  as  "  Nightshades," 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  or  at  least  as  far  back  as  we  can  trace 
botanical  knowledge,  were  associated  with  Solanum.  Tourne- 
fort,  about  the  year  1700,  limited  the  genus  as  we  now  have  it, 
and  Linnaeus  adopted  the  name  in  his  "  Genera  Plantarum," 
in  1737. 

Associated  as  Solanum  was  with  the  "Nightshades"  in  which 
is  the  celebrated  Atropa  Belladonna,  the  wdiole  family  of  vSolanum 
was  at  one  time  looked  on  with  suspicion.  The  potato  and,  for 
the  popular  purpose  we  have  now  in  view,  the  egg-plant  and 
tomato,  all  near  enough  to  the  genus  to  be  at  one  dme  consid- 


32  SOLAXUiM    TORREYI. TORREY  S   SOLANUM. 

ered  by  good  botanists  members  of  it,  were  supposed  to  be  in 
some  measure  poisonous.  The  tubers  of  the  potato  were 
thought  to  be  safe  only  after  they  were  cooked ;  and  even 
within  the  memory  of  the  present  writer  few  persons  thought 
it  quite  safe  to  eat  a  raw  tomato.  The  immense  quantities  of 
tomatoes  eaten  uncooked  in  our  time  would  have  astonished 
our  forefathers.  It  is  not  however  clear  how  far  they  are 
poisonous.  Griffith,  in  his  "  Medical  Botany,"  says  the  leaves 
of  the  tomato  will  produce  vomiting ;  and  other  medical  writers 
tell  us  that  the  "  balls,"  or  seed-vessels  of  the  potato,  eaten  have 
caused  certain  death.  But  who  would  make  the  trial,  for  these 
potato  fruits  are  very  nauseous,  and  have  nothing  to  attract 
even  a  child?  The  Solamini  manwwsiun,  with  which  our 
species  was  once  associated,  and  to  which  it  is  closely  allied, 
is  said  by  Ainslee  to  bear  "  a  large  and  poisonous  fruit."  We 
give  all  this  as  part  of  the  associated  history,  but  have  an 
impression  that  our  pretty  flowering  species,  6".  Torrcyi,  will 
not  be  found  such  a  very  bad  fellow  after  all. 

Of  late  years  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  study  of 
the  hairs  of  plants.  They  often  exhibit  a  great  variety  in  form 
and  structure,  and  as  in  5".  Torrcyi  the  hairs  are  particularly 
referred  to  by  Dr.  Gray  in  the  description  quoted  from  his 
work,  we  have  given  an  enlarged  drawing  of  one  which  in 
this  case  is  branched,  or  in  botanical  language,  stellate.  There 
seemed  to  be  none  "eight  to  twelve  rayed"  on  our  plant,  as 
r3r.  Gray  finds  in  his  specimens.  All  were  uniformly  seven 
rayed,  as  In  our  very  much  magnified  engraving  (Fig.  2),  which 
is  given  as  a  back  view  showing  a  small  pedicel  to  which  the 
rays  are  attached. 

For  the  opportunity  of  illustrating  this  rare  and  pretty  spe- 
cies we  are  indebted  to  the  Cambridge  Botanical  Garden,  where 
it  was  growing  to  perfection  under  the  care  of  Mr.  W.  Falconer, 
gardener  there. 

Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  A  flowering  branch.     2.  Stellate  hair  enlarged  from  the 
under-side  of  a  leaf. 


m 


POLYPODIUM    CALIFORNICUM. 

CALIFORNIAN    POLYPODY. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    FILICES. 

POLYPODIUM  CALIFORNICUM,  Kaulfuss. — Fronds  deeply  pinnatifid ;  segments  oblong,  ietu«e, 
sharply  serrate,  the  inferior  ones  narrower  towards  the  base,  decurrent ;  veins  ol)lique 
parallel;  veinlets  dicholomous,  anastomosing;  sori  ovate,  solitary.  (Kaulfuss  in  Enu- 
nieratio  Filicuiii  qiias  in  itinere  circa   terrain  legit  cl.  Adelbertits  de  Chamisso,  etc.) 

S  none  of  our  popular  botanical  text-books  contain  any 
description  of  this  pretty  fern,  we  have  translated  the 
original  descripdon  of  the  species  as  given  by  Dr.  Frederick 
Kaulfuss  in  the  work  above  referred  to.  Chamisso  accompa- 
nied the  navigator  Kotzebue  in  his  celebrated  voyage  ;  and  Kaul- 
fuss, who  was  professor  of  botany  in  the  celebrated  German 
University  of  Halle,  described  and  remarked  on  the  ferns  his 
friend  collected.  According  to  Kaulfuss,  Chamisso  simply  gives 
"  California  "  as  its  location,  but  it  is  found  much  farther  north, 
as  specimens  from  which  our  drawing  was  made  were  gathered 
for  us  near  the  Falls  of  the  Wilhamette  by  Mrs.  Fanny  E. 
Briggs,  who  thus  graphically  describes  the  spot  from  whence 
they  came:  "Oregon  City,  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  the  State, 
is  the  most  picturesque  in  situation  I  have  yet  met  with.  Here 
are  the  Falls  of  the  Wilhamette,  and  a  line  of  high  rocky  bluffs 
rise  abrupdy,  leaving  only  a  narrow  strip  of  level  ground  along 
the  river.  The  railroad  is  built  on  this.  The  town  is  wholly 
on  the  bluffs,  and  is  reached  by  long  flights  of  stairs,  some  of  the 
steps  set  zigzag  in  upright  frames.  The  town  is  neat  and  pretty, 
with  gardens,  shade  and  fruit  trees  in  abundance.  The  rocky 
face  of  the  bluff  is  covered  by  mosses,  ferns  and  vines,  and  two  or 
three  little  silver  ribbon-like  mountain  streams  leap  sparklingly 

3  (3.1) 


34        roLvroDiuM  californicum. — californian  polypody. 

from  its  rocky  brow."  We  are  very  glad  to  be  able  to  give  a 
representation  of  this  very  beautiful  fern,  because  in  pursuance  of 
our  plan  to  take  representatives  of  the  Flora  from  every  part  of 
the  United  States  we  want  to  have  Oregon  represented ;  and  also 
because  this  species  offers  the  opportunity  to  say  a  little  on  the 
importance  of  examining  the  veins  in  determining  the  various 
kinds  of  ferns.  The  earlier  botanists  paid  attention  chiefly  to 
the  form  of  the  fruit  dots,  their  posidon  on  the  fronds,  or  their 
situation  on  the  veins ;  but  characters  derived  from  the  veins 
themselves  do  not  appear  to  have  attracted  much  attention  till 
a  comparatively  modern  date.  In  1836  Professor  C.  B.  Presl, 
one  of  two  brothers  both  celebrated  botanists  of  Prague,  pub- 
lished a  work  on  ferns  in  which  characters  drawn  from  the 
veins  occupied  a  very  prominent  position.  Those  who  make 
ferns  a  special  study  do  not  seem  to  agree  in  all  cases  with 
Professor  Presl  as  to  the  precise  value  of  such  characters,  but 
still  they  are  found  generally  to  be  of  as  much  value  as  most 
other  characters  in  ferns,  and  hence  all  students  in  these  times 
examine  the  veins  as  closely  as  any  other  parts  of  a  fern.  Some 
veins  are  simple,  others  branched,  others  run  completely  to  the 
margin,  while  others  stop  short.  Again  there  are  others  which 
continually  diverge,  and  no  matter  what  may  be  their  length 
never  touch  another  after  having  once  started  from  the  parent 
vein  ;  while  there  are  others  which  seem  to  run  backwards  and 
forwards,  connecting  one  with  another,  and  forming  a  complete 
net-work  all  over  the  surface.  In  some  cases  these  characters 
are  constant,  that  is  to  say,  are  generally  found  the  same  in  all 
the  specimens  of  the  species  we  may  find,  and  then  they  form 
what  botanists  call  a  valuable  character;  but  in  other  cases  they 
are  found  to  vary,  sometimes  having  perhaps  free  veins,  that  is 
never  being  connected  at  their  points,  and  at  others  they  form  a 
net-work,  or  as  it  is  technically  said,  they  anastomose. 

Our  present  species  is  just  one  of  these  uncertain  cases.  It 
will  be  noted  that  the  description  translated  from  Kaulfuss  says 
"veinlets  anastomosino-,"  but   these  will    not   be    found    in    that 


POLYPODIUM    CALIFORNICUM. CALIFORNIAN    1'()LVI'()I)^■.  35 

condition  on  our  plate.  The  reason  is  that  about  the  time  when 
our  species  was  first  discovered  the  condition  of  the  veins  was 
supposed  to  be  more  ujichangeable  than  it  is  known  to  be  now. 
In  some  places  a  form  was  found  like  it  that  did  not  have  die 
netted  veins,  and  it  was  thought  therefore  to  be  another  species, 
and  named  by  Hooker  and  Arnott  Polypoditim  mtermediwn ;  but 
as  more  specimens  were  discovered  some  of  the  former  w^ould 
occasionally  be  found  with  free  veins  and  some  of  the  latter 
with  netted  veins,  and  therefore  in  this  case  at  least  the  character 
is  worth  nothing  as  a  distinction.  Consequently  Hooker,  in  his 
"Species  Filicum"  published  in  1864,  united  the  two,  and  they  are 
now  both  known  by  the  oldest  name  P,  Calif orniatiu .  Our  plant 
in  its  earlier  history  would  have  been  probably  known  as 
P.  intermediiuu. 

Whether  a  form  is  to  be  considered  as  a  distinct  species  or 
as  a  mere  variety  depends  very  much  on  experience  as  to  the 
fixity  of  characters,  rather  than  on  any  specific  points  that  can  be 
readily  explained  ;  and  we  can  see  in  this  case  that  only  for  the 
fact  that  a  few  netted  veins  had  been  found  in  one  case,  and  a 
few  free  veins  in  another  case,  both  forms  would  in  all  probability 
be  regarded  as  distinct  species  to  this  day  ;  and  it  is  such  facts 
as  these  which  make  observations  on  the  range  of  variation  in 
species  of  so  much  value  to  practical  botanists.  In  ferns  espe- 
cially very  much  has  to  be  learned  on  this  point.  For  want  of 
this  knowledge  synonyms  are  very  numerous.  In  the  case  of 
our  present  species.  Professor  Kunze,  in  a  paper  translated  in 
"  Silliman's  Journal,"  new  series,  Vol.  6th,  remarks  that  Hooker 
and  Greville,  standard  authors  on  ferns,  had  united  very  differ- 
ent species  with  it.  Another  writer  in  the  6th  Volume  of  the 
"  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club "  suggests  a  doubt 
whether  another  species  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  Polypodhim  falca- 
tuni,  may  not  be  referred  to  P.  Californinmi.  Botanists  may  not 
be  wholly  prepared  for  this  view  yet,  although  we  incline  to  it; 
but  it  shows  how  uncertain  much  fern  knowledge  yet  remains. 

A  very  pretty  feature  in  our  Californian  Polypody  is  its  trans- 


36  POLYPODIUM    CALIFORNICUM. CALIFORNIAN    P()LYPODY. 

parent  veins  as  seen  when  held  up  to  the  Hght.  These  veins 
are  club-shaped,  or  thickened  upwards  at  the  termination,  a 
point  that  does  not  seem  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of 
describers,  though  as  to  the  mere  frond  differences  in  the 
opacity  of  the  various  forms  have  been  commented  on. 

Kaulfuss  in  the  work  from  which  we  have  translated  the 
description  says  it  is  "  similar  \.o  Polypodium  vulgare''  \\\\\q\\\'s> 
our  common  Eastern  form.  But  this  is  from  the  botanist's  stand- 
point. The  popular  vote  will  be  that  it  is  much  handsomer,  by 
its  more  slender  lobes  and  generally  graceful  fronds. 

If  we,  as  it  seems  we  must,  combine  P.  intcrmedmm  with 
P.  Californiciini,  it  gives  a  wide  geographical  range  to  it  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  from  the  Columbia  River  southwards. 


Explanation   of   the   Plate. — i.  An  average  sized  plant.     2.   An  enlarged  portion  of  a 
division  of  the  frond  showing  the  veinlets  and  the  soil  thereon. 


I 


♦ 


f 


SARRACENIA  RUBRA. 
RED-FLOWERED    TRUMPET   LEAF.— Walter's  Sarkacenia. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  SARRACENL\CE/E. 

Sarracenia  rubra,  Walter. — Leaves  elongated,  erect,  slender,  narrowly  winged,  paler  above, 
and  reticulated  with  purple  veins;  lamina  ovate,  erect,  beak-pointed,  tomenlose  within ; 
flowers  reddish  purple.  Leaves  ten  to  eighteen  inches  long,  shorter  than  the  scapes. 
(Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.  See  also  Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany, 
under  .S".  Gronovii.) 

HIS  Species  of  the  "Side-saddle  flower"  well  illustrates  a 
point  often  made,  that  names  may  be  misleading,  and 
that  names  which  have  no  particular  meaning  so  far  as  the  appli- 
cation to  any  character  in  the  plant  is  concerned,  are  at  least  as 
good  as  any.  This  particular  species  was  named  by  Thomas 
Walter,  who  published  a  history  of  the  plants  of  the  Carolinas  in 
1788.  As  Sarracenia  rtcbra,  it  is  the  red-flowered  Sarracenia, 
naturally  enough  from  Walter's  name;  but  there  are  other  Sar- 
racenias  as  "red"  as  this,  and  the  collector  of  wild  flowers  must 
therefore  remember  when  he  reads  of  the  "Red  Sarracenia,"  that 
it  is  merely  "its  name."  Still,  as  it  is  just  as  well  to  avoid  mis- 
leading names,  we  propose  to  those  who  may  wish  a  better  name 
than  the  only  one  so  far  known  for  it,  that  it  be  called  "Walter's 
Sarracenia." 

The  Sarracenias  are  so  unlike  most  other  plants,  that  the 
student  is  particularly  interested  in  how  they  are  made,  and  the 
especial  reasons  for  their  peculiar  structure.  While,  as  Percival 
says,  generally 

"  In  flowers 
The  serpent  hides  his  venom,  and  the  sting 
Of  the  dread  insect  lurks  in  fairest  bowers," 

the  case  is  reversed  here.     There  is  no  lurking  of  dr(?ad  insects 

'37) 


38  SARRACENIA    RUBRA. RED-FLOWERED    TRUMPET    LEAF. 

about  these  flowers.  It  is  the  plant  which  acts  hke  the  "veno- 
mous serpent,"  and  entices  the  "kirking-  insect"  to  its  sure 
destruction.  How  they  work  to  this  end  is  very  curious.  In 
"  SilHman's  Journal"  for  1873,  Professor  Gray  quotes  from  the 
English  translation  of  Maout  and  Decaisnes'  "System  of  Botany:" 
"  The  pitcher-shaped  leaves  are  effective  insect  traps ;  a  sugary 
secretion  exudes  at  the  mouth  of  the  pitchers  and  attracts  insects, 
which  descend  lower  in  the  tube,  where  they  meet  with  a  belt  of 
reflexed  hairs,  which  facilitate  their  descent  into  a  watery  fluid 
that  fills  the  bottom  of  the  cavity,  and  at  the  same  time  prevents 
their  egress."  This  is  given  as  of  our  present  plant,  S.  rubra, 
but  as  Canada  is  mentioned,  Dr.  Gray  thinks  it  must  have  had 
reference  to  S.  purpurea,  which  is  the  only  one  found  in  Canada. 
Dr.  Gray  says  he  wishes  "  to  call  attention  to  the  statement  that 
Sarraccnia  produces  a  sugary  excretion  which  attracts  flies  to 
their  ruin,  this  being  the  first  time,  so  far  as  I  know,  that  any  such 
statement  has  appeared  in  print."  However,  it  appears  in 
print  in  American  publications  long  before  this.  In  Darby's 
"Botany  of  the  Southern  States,"  written  in  1855,  we  read  at 
page  219:  "This  genus  affords  a  striking  example  of  a  great 
modificadon  of  the  petiole,  since  there  is  no  doubt  the  tube  part 
is  the  petiole,  and  what  we  call  the  lamina,  the  true  lamina  of  the 
leaf.  These  tubes  are  generally  filled  with  water,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  secreted  by  the  plant,  and  this  always  contains  dead 
insects.  The  tube  could  not  have  been  formed  in  a  better  man- 
ner to  accomplish  a  given  end  than  this  is  to  catch  insects.  The 
saccharine  secretion  which  surrounds  the  orifice  decoys  insects 
to  the  tube,  and  the  water  entices  them  in.  There  are  hairs 
pointing  downwards  so  as  to  permit  an  easy  descent,  but  makes 
the  egress  difficult."  As  before  noted,  it  is  not  certain  that  our 
present  species,  the  red  or  Walter's  Sarracenia,  has  this  power 
of  excreting  honeyed  matter  ;  so  we  give  what  is  said  of  it  in  full, 
that  collectors  may  be  on  the  lookout  to  verify  the  statement  for 
themselves. 

As  for  the  fact  that  the  pitcher  is  the  petiole,  and  that  it  has 


SARRACENIA    RUBRA. RED-FLOWERED    TRUMrET    LEAF.  39 

been  produced  In  this  form  for  the  purpose  of  insect-catching,  it 
may  be  well  to  note  that  in  Willdenow's  "  Species  Plantarum"  this 
singular  passage  occurs:  "Sic  metamorphosis  folii  Nymphsea;  in 
folium  Sarraceniae,  ut  ipsa  aquam  pluvialem  excipiens  et  retinens 
extra  aquas  crescat ;  mira  naturae  providentia ;  "  which  may  be 
translated  :  "  Such  is  the  metamorphis  of  the  leaf  of  the  Nymphasa 
into  that  of  the  Sarracenia,  in  order  that,  by  receiving  and  retain- 
ing rain  water,  it  may,  by  a  wonderful  provision  of  nature,  grow 
where  there  is  no  water."  The  sentence  is  very  remarkable  as 
showing  that  the  early  fathers  of  modern  botany  had  anticipated 
the  celebrated  men  of  our  time  in  conceiving  the  theory  of  evo- 
lution. 

As  to  the  idea  that  these  pitchers  are  modified  petioles,  and 
that  the  leaf  blade  is  something  else,  it  is  highly  probable  that 
all  petioles  are  modified  leaf  blades,  and  that  the  distinction 
between  the  two  Is  of  practical  value  only  as  a  help  In  descrip- 
tion and  classification.  It  Is  likely  that  the  primordial  plan  Is 
that  of  a  lobed  leaf,  such  as  we  might  find  In  the  Liriodendron, 
or  "  tulip  tree,"  and  that  the  lower  lobes  became  united  at  their 
edges,  leaving  the  upper,  now  forming  the  lid,  free — and  that  the 
petioles  of  many  plants  may  be  formed  In  the  same  manner. 
However,  as  regards  the  Sarracenia,  the  manner  In  which  the 
"wing"  Is  developed  In  S.  psittacina,  leaving  the  "pitcher"  little 
more  than  a  mid-rib,  Is  very  suggestive.  But  this  Is  much  better 
seen  by  a  singular  genus  of  this  same  order,  Sarracenlaceae,  found 
in  Guayana  by  Sir  R.  Schomberg,  called  Hclianiphora  nutans,  In 
which  the  primordial  leaf  was  evidently  three-lobed,  and  from  the 
orifice  Is  so  slit  down  on  one  side  that  we  should  as  soon  think 
of  dividing  the  spathe  of  an  arum  Into  petiole  and  leaf-blade  as 
this.  We  can  easily  see  from  the  Hclianiphora.  that  we  may  more 
correctly  say  the  pitcher  of  the  Sarracenia  is  a  folded  leaf  than 
an  Inflated  petiole. 

Among  the  interesting  facts  brought  out  within  recent  years 
Is  that  of  the  different  species  of  Sarracenia  Intercrossing  freely 
together.      Mr.  David  Moore,  of  the  Glasnevin  Botanic  Gardens 


40 


SARRACENIA    RUBRA. RED-FLOWERED    TRUMPET    LEAF. 


in  Ireland,  has  recently  exhibited  before  the  Royal  Dublin  Soci- 
ety, an  eminendy  sciendfic  body,  some  beaudful  hybrids  between 
our  present  species,  6^.  rubra,  and  S.  flava.  In  this  case  the 
hybrid  resulted  in  forms  intermediate  between  the  two  species. 
At  one  time  it  was  thought  not  easy  to  cultivate  these  curious 
plants,  but  the  skill  of  modern  gardeners  is  not  only  equal  to  the 
task,  but  as  we  see,  is  able  to  raise  them  up  from  the  seed  to 
full  maturity,  even  to  the  production  of  new  forms.  In  regard 
to  these  new  varieties,  it  may,  however,  be  noted  that  the  species 
are  very  variable  even  in  wild  nature.  This  variation  induced 
Prof.  Wood  to  group  together  this  and  several  others  usually 
regarded  as  good  species  under  the  name  of  S.  Gronovii  in  his 
"Class-Book  of  Botany." 

For   the   opportunity  to  draw  our  plant,  we  are  indebted  to 
Prof  C.  S.  Sargent,  of  the  Cambridge  Botanic  Garden,  Mass. 


IMPATIENS  FULVA. 
SPOTTED   TOUCH-ME-NOT,   OR   SNAP-WEED. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    BALSAMINACEyE. 

Impatiens  FULVA,  Nuttall. — Leaves  rhombic-ovate,  obtusish,  coarsely  and  ol)tusely  serrate, 
teeth  mucronate  ;  pedicel  two  to  four-flowered,  short;  lower  gibbous  sepal,  acutely  conical, 
longer  than  broad,  with  an  elongated,  closely  reflexed  spur;  flowers  deep  orange,  macu- 
late with  many  brown  spots.  Stem  one  and  a  half  to  three  feet  high.  Leaves  one  to 
three  inches  long,  one  half  as  wide,  having  a  few  filiform  teeth  at  the  base.  Flowers 
about  one  inch  in  length,  the  recurved  spur  of  the  lower  sepals  half  inch  long.  Capsule 
oblong-cylindric  one  inch  long,  bursting  at  the  slightest  touch  when  mature,  and  scatter- 
ing the  seed.  (Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany 
of  the  Northern  United  States  ;  and  Chapman's  Botany  of  the  Southern  United  States.) 

HIS  extremely  interesting  plant  is  well  known  to  the 
lovers  of  wild  flowers,  for  it  has  so  many  points  of 
attraction,  that  there  are  few  who  have  not  more  or  less  observed 
it.  The  flowers  themselves  are  so  peculiar  in  their  form,  and  so 
rich  in  color,  as  to  have  earned  for  the  plant  the  common  name 
of  "Jewel  weed;"  while  the  remarkable  sensitiveness  of  the  seed 
vessels  to  the  touch,  as  referred  to  in  the  description  quoted  from 
Professor  Wood,  has  obtained  for  the  plant  the  name  of  "Touch- 
me-not,"  a  name  which  is  applied  to  this  and  other  allied  species 
by  all  the  nations  of  Europe.  The  suddenness  with  which  the 
seed  vessel  falls  to  pieces  when  it  is  grasped  in  one's  hand,  no 
matter  how  lightly,  is  surprising  to  one  who  experiences  it  for 
the  first  time.     When  Burns  wrote 

"  But  pleasures  are  like  poppies  spread ; 
You  seize  the  flower,  its  bloom  is  shed," 

he  unconsciously  characterized  also  the  behavior  of  these  seed 
vessels  which  leave  us  so  little  where  we  expected  so  much  ! 
Dr.  Prior  says  the  name,  "Touch-me-not,"  is  "a  phrase  that  was 

C4i) 


42    IMPATIENS    FULVA. SPOITED    TOUCH-ME-NUT,    OR    SNAP-WEED. 

familiar  from  the  'noli-me-tangere'  pictures  in  Roman  Catholic 
countries."     The  old  European  species  is  called  Impatiens  noli- 
tangere,  and  the  earlier  botanists  of  our  country  supposed  they 
found  the  same  species  here,  but  it  was  finally  discovered  to  be 
distinct  from  the   European  one.      The  botanical   name   of  the 
o-enus,  Impatiens,    meaning  impatient,  is  also   derived   from   the 
peculiar  behavior  of  the  seed  vessel  when  touched.     The  name 
Impatiens  is  credited  in  modern  works  to  Linnaeus,  who  simply 
adopted   it,   as    he    tells    us   in    the   "Genera   Plantarum,"   from 
Rivinus,  a  writer  of  about  1690;  and  we  find  the  same  name  in 
use  by  Doedens,  a  botanical   author  who   flourished   about  the 
same  time.     Plukenet,  Ray,  and  others  of  that  period  not  only 
refer  to  Impatiens,  but  are  believed    to    have    had  our  kind  in 
view.     The  present  species  was  included  in  the  early  collections 
of  Clayton  in  Virginia  and  of  Colden   from  New  York,  as  we 
learn  from  the  writings  of  Gronovius.     It  may  appear  singular 
to  some  that  so  old  and  evidently  well-known  a  plant  should 
bear  so  modern  a  name  as  one  dating  from  only  1818,  Nuttall 
having  then  named  it  I.fulva.     Of  this  Nuttall  says:  "This  is 
the  /.  biflora  of  Willdenow,  and  of  Pursh  in  his  '  Flora,'  and  also 
the  /.  maculata  of  Muhlenberg's  '  Catalogue.'     As  several  species 
are    spotted   I   have   not  adopted   the  last  name;    and  I  have 
changed   the   former  because    it  was   deceptive."       It   may   be 
observed  about  this  that  if  names  were  to  be  changed  in  these 
days  for  such  reasons  as  these,  our  list  of  synonyms  would  be 
hugely    increased.       Polygonatimi   biflonim   may  have   but    one 
flower  from  each  axil,  and  again  it  is  found  with  four;  but  no  one 
seeks   to   change   the   name   "because   it    is    deceptive."      It  is 
remarkable,  however,  that  Nuttall's  name  with  no  better  reason 
has  displaced  the  prior  names  in  all  American  botanical  works 
of  the  present  time;  even  Mr.  Sereno  Watson,  usually  so  scru- 
pulously impartial  in  the  application  of  the  laws  of  priority,  uses 
Nuttall's  name  as  the  proper  one  in  his  recent  "  Bibliography." 
Our  work  being  to  give  a  history  of  Botany  as  we  find  it,  we,  of 
course,  have  had  to  use  the  name  in  our  quotation  from  Profes- 
sor Wood's  Class-Rook. 


IMPATIENS    FULVA.- 


■SPOTTED    TUUCII-ME-NOT,    OR    SNAP-WEED.    43 


The  genus  has  been  the  victim  of  uncertainties  in  some  of  its 
relationships,  and  the  species  have  fared  no  better.  LinUceus, 
who  arranged  plants  on  his  sexual  system,  classed  Inipatiens  as  a 
syngenesious  plant!  In  this  class  were  also  included  what  we 
now  call  composites.  Nuttall,  who  also  arranged  his  plants  on 
the  sexual  system,  places  it  in  the  class  Pentandria.  Nor  has  it 
been  more  settled  under  the  natural  system  of  more  modern 
botanists.  Wood,  from  whom  w^e  quote,  gives  it  to  the  order 
BalsaminacecE.  But  many  modern  botanists  do  not  regard  this 
as  an  independent  order,  and  the  student  from  this  point  of  view 
would  have  to  search  for  our  plant  among  the  Geraniacece. 

A  peculiar  feature  of  this  and  allied  species  of  Impatiens  is 
that  the  later  flowers  are  often  cleistogenous  ;  that  is  to  say, 
while  the  earlier  flowers  have  petals  and  are  complete  in  all  their 
parts,  as  in  our  plate,  the  later  ones  have  no  petals,  or  anything 
that  would  be  popularly  called  a  flower,  and  yield  barely  pollen 
enough  to  fertilize  the  ovary  and  produce  seed.  Fertilization 
is  effected  before  the  bud  opens,  and  the  first  knowledge  the 
observer  has  of  the  existence  of  any  flowering  operation  is  by 
the  growing  seed  vessel  pushing  from  the  bud.  In  England, 
where  close  observadons  on  this  species  have  been  made  by  Mr. 
A.  W.  Bennet,  these  cleistogenenic  flowers  have  been  found  in 
the  proportion  of  twenty  to  one  of  the  petal  bearing,  or  as  they 
are  called,  "perfect"  ones.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  writer's  home 
the  propordon  is  generally  about  one-half.  In  Europe  the  per- 
fect flowers  seem  rarely  to  produce  seeds.  But  here  they  bear 
freely,  and  plants  may  be  seen  covered  with  seed  vessels  before 
any  cleistogene  flowers  appear.  The  subject  is  one  of  great 
interest,  and  will  prove  an  inviting  field  for  the  student  fond  of 
original  research. 

There  are  many  facts  worth  noting  in  the  life-history  of  the 
Impatiens  fitlva.  In  the  "  Bulledn  of  the  Torrey  Bot.  Club"  for 
1872,  it  is  noted  that  the  inhabitants  of  Green  county,  New  York, 
call  it  "  Silver  leaf,"  because  when  placed  under  water  the  leaf 
glistens  like  silver,  and  does   not  get  wet.     In   the  volume  for 


44    IMPATIENS    FULVA. SPOTTED    TOUCH-ME-NOT, 


OR    SNAP-WEED. 


1877  of  the  same  serial  Mr.  W.  W.  Bailey,  of  Providence,  R.  I., 
remarks  on  a  friend  of  his  finding  "  the  sacs  all  perforated  by 
bumble-bees,"  and  adds:  "You  may  remember  that  Dr.  Gray 
says  this  is  only  likely  to  happen  in  a  profusely  flowering  species." 
Another  writer  somewhere,  but  the  exact  reference  not  at  hand, 
remarks  that  it  has  been  reported  that  the  leaves  hang  down  at 
nightfall,  and  become  horizontal  soon  after  daylight — a  statement 
the  writer  of  this  has  confirmed  by  actual  observation.  Many 
of  these  behaviors  are  by  no  means  confined  to  the  Impaticns 
fuha,  but  they  all  afford  interesting  observations  to  the  curious 
student. 

Besides  its  value  in  connection  with  its  scientific  lessons,  it  has 
a  direcdy  practical  use  to  man,  for  Mr.  Nuttall,  on  the  authority 
of  Dr.  Barton,  says  it  is  sometimes  used  for  dyeing  salmon  color ; 
and  it  is  said  by  others  to  be  useful  when  applied  to  portions  of 
the  skin  poisoned  by  the  common  poison  vine,  Rhus  toxicoden- 
dron. 

In  its  geographical  range  it  Is  confined  on  the  Adantic  slope 
of  our  country  to  that  pordon  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  Mis- 
souri, except  to  a  small  tract  within  Arkansas,  growing  chiefly  in 
low  or  damp  places.  According  to  Torrey  and  Gray  it  is  also 
found  on  the  north-western  pordon  of  the  Pacific  slope. 

Dr.  Darlington  gives  as  the  prevailing  common  names 
"  Tawny  Impatiens  "  and  "  Spotted  Snap-weed  ;  "  the  last  being 
more  easily  understood  by  people  who  are  not  botanists,  we  have 
proposed  for  adoption. 


IRIS    VERNA. 

SPRING    IRIS. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    IRIDACE/E. 

Iris  verna,  Linnjeus. — Leaves  linear-ensiform,  rigid,  rather  longer  than  the  low,  one-flowered 
scape;  tube  of  the  perianth  filiform  (two  inches  long),  about  equalling  the  length  of  the 
segments;  sepals  and  petals  nearly  equal,  oblong-obovate,  obtuse,  neither  crested  nor 
bearded,  stigma  deeply  bifid.  Stem  or  scape  three  to  five  inches  high,  sheathed  with 
colored  bracts.  Flowers  pale  blue,  the  sepals  with  an  oblong,  or  orange  yellow,  spotted 
stripe.  (Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.  See  also  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern 
United  States. \ 


S  one  proceeds  to  write  a  popular  chapter  on  an  Iris,  the 
many  poetical  and  historical  associations  connected 
with  it  crowd  on  the  mind.  Mythological  accounts  of  its  origin 
in  connection  with  Juno's  fair  messenger  are  numerous,  and  as 
no  two  accounts  exacdy  agree,  a  collection  of  the  various  ver- 
sions would  form  a  very  pretty  chapter  in  imaginative  floral 
literature. 

Louisa  Ann  Twamley  has  a  pretty  story  about  the  naming  of 
the  Iris  at  one  of  the  courts  held  by  Flora, — 

"All  \\ith  their  pearls  so  fair 
The  gay  flowers  wreathed  were, 

But,  midst  them  all. 
Crowned  at  the  rainbow  festival, 
A  sapphire-colored  blossom  shone 
The  loveliest  there  ;  no  other  one 
Her  jewels  wore 
So  gracefully.     Her  robe  all  o'er 
Was  radiant,  yet  deep  blue,  like  twilight  sky. 
And  softly  shaded,  as  when  clouds  do  lie 
Upon  the  deep  expanse.     'Twas  strange,  none  knew 
A  name  for  this  fair  form,  so  bright  and  blue : 
But  sister-flowerets  fancifully  said. 
As  they  to  note  her  beauty  had  been  led 
By  its  enhancement  in  the  rainbow  shower, 
They  e'en  would  call  her  Iris  from  that  hour." 

(45) 


46  IRIS    VERNA. SPRING    IRIS. 

The  word  iris,  as  is  well  known,  is  Greek  for  rainbow,  but  the 
etymology  of  the  word  goes  beyond  this,  acquainting  us  with  the 
reason  why  the  rainbow  is  so  called ;  it  seems  to  have  been 
derived  from  iro,  to  foretell,  the  rainbow  in  old  times  having 
been  supposed  to  be  the  heavenly  messenger  foretelling  rain 
instead  of,  as  now  recognized,  the  actual  consequence  of  the 
shower. 

The  Iris  vcrna  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  spring  flowers  in  the 
Southern  States,  being  often  in  bloom  in  March  among  the 
forest  leaves  and  before  the  green  grass  has  hardly  begun  to 
grow.     As  Park  Benjamin  says  of  the  Trailing  Arbutus, — 

"  Thou  coniest  when  spring  her  coronal  weaves, 
And  thou  hidest  thyself  mid  dead  strewn  leaves; 
Where  the  young  grass  lifts  its  tender  blade, 
Thy  home  and  thy  resting  place  is  made; 
And  in  the  spot  of  thy  lowly  birth. 
Unseen,  thou  hloomest,— " 

Mrs.  Sara  J.  Hale,  in  her  "Flora's  Interpreter,"  explains  to 
the  reader  that  the  Trailing  Arbutus  is  "  a  sort  of  a  strawberry 
vine,  found  in  New  England  in  March,  the  earliest  of  all  spring 
flowers."  When  such  a  monstrous  suggestion  can  pass  through 
the  current  of  literature  unchallenged,  we  shall  surely  be  par- 
doned for  using  the  poet's  lines  so  appropriately  here. 

Our  plate  shows  the  arrangement  by  which  the  plant  is  able 
to  flower  so  early.  Most  Irises  have  to  give  as  much  growth  to 
the  flowering  shoot  as  to  the  leaves  on  the  barren  shoots. 
Indeed  in  many  cases  the  flower  scape  exceeds  the  leaves  in 
length.  In  this  species  the  increase  of  the  plant  is  by  under- 
ground runners  which  form  leaf  buds  at  various  distances  along 
their  length.  These  buds  make  leaves  at  once,  and  form  otl;er 
buds  at  the  base  which  do  not  develop  till  the  following  spring. 
These  basal  buds  which  are  to  flower  push  up  immediately  when 
the  warm  spring  weather  comes,  and  bloom  as  soon  as-  they  reach 
the  surface,  forming  only  a  few  diminutive  leaves  along  the 
stems.     Our    Fig.    i    represents    this.     At    Vvg.  2  we  have  the 


IK  IS    VERXA. STRING    IRIS,  47 

terminal  growth  of  the  underground  runner  for  the  season. 
This  also  has  buds  at  the  base,  but  shows  no  disposition  to 
flower,  and  from  this  we  may  infer  that  the  buds  which  do 
flower  are  considerably  developed  before  winter  sets  in,  and  this 
too  may  be  in  favor  of  its  early  blossoming.  Much  may  remain 
to  be  learned  about  its  habits.  The  opportunity  to  study  its 
behavior  in  a  state  of  nature  has  not  been  favora])le,  as  it 
inhabits  woods  in  the  South  within  a  somewhat  limited  region, 
and  away  from  thickly  setded  places.  Professor  Wood  says 
only  "  Hilly  woods  in  the  interior  of  the  Southern  States;  "  and 
Dr.  Chapman  says,  "  Pine  barrens  of  the  middle  districts,  mosdy 
in  dry  soil,  Alabama  to  North  Carolina."  It  may  perhaps  be 
found  more  extended  than  this  when  the  local  botany  of  the 
Southern  States  shall  be  more  full}'  known.  The  editor  of  the 
"Botanical  Gazette"  nodces  in  the  first  volume  of  that  serial 
that  he  found  it  on  the  "knobs  of  Southern  Indiana  ;"  and  Dr. 
Gray  admits  it  into  his  "  Manual  of  Botany  of  the  Northern 
United  States"  as  being  found  in  Virginia  and  Kentucky. 

Though  confined  to  such  a  comparatively  limited  district,  it 
seems  to  have  early  attracted  the  attendon  of  botanists  in  our 
country.  Gronovius  in  his  "Flora  Virginica,"  ed.  of  1762, 
notices  it  as  having  been  known  to  David  Bannister,  who 
collected  much  earlier  in  the  century.  It  was  also  in  the  collec- 
tion which  Clayton  sent  to  him.  It  seems  to  have  been  known 
in  P^ngland  as  a  cultivated  plant  so  early  as  1748. 

The  peculiar  running  roots,  not  common  at  least  in  Iris,  were 
noticed  by  these  early  botanists.  In  those  days  the  binomial 
system,  or  that  which  restricted  the  names  to  two,  that  of  genera 
and  species,  had  not  been  adopted,  and  Gronovius  refers  to  this 
as  the  Iris  which  has  "a  fibrous  root,  one  flowered  stalk,  shorter 
than  the  leaves,  and  with  a  beardless  corolla."  To  Linnaeus  we 
are  indebted  for  the  short  specific  name  vcrna  in  place  of  the 
long  strin-g  of  descriptives  as  given  above. 

The  Irises  of  the  old  world  have  been  very  much  improved 
by  natural  selection  and  inter-crossing,  and  of  some  of  the  kinds 


48  IRIS    VERNA. SPRING    IRIS. 

a  larcre  number  of  varieties  have  been  obtained  of  much 
superior  beauty  to  the  originals.  Floriculture  has  not  yet  had 
the  same  devoted  skill  and  attention  bestowed  on  it  in  the  New 
World,  and  hence  many  of  our  beautiful  plants  are  awaiting 
some  energetic  florist's  care  to  rival  in  beauty  and  variety  some 
of  the  famous  race  of  florists'  flowers  of  Europe.  Our  spring 
Iris  offers  sfreat  inducements  for  such  nice  work  as  this,  and  if 
once  improved  would  no  doubt  not  only  be  popular  as  a  spring 
flower,  but  there  would  be  the  addition  of  the  fragrance  which  it 
possesses,  for  most  of  the  popular  races  of  improved  Irises  of  the 
gardens  are  wanting  in  this  great  attracdon.  There  is  no  doubt 
it  would  readily  change  under  the  hands  of  the  florists,  as  there 
seem  to  be  variadons  in  nature.  Gronovius,  already  quoted, 
speaks  of  Clayton  having  found  one  with  pure  white  flowers; 
and  Peter  Collinson,  in  a  letter  to  John  Bartram,  dated  March 
4th,  1764,  refers  to  his  "true  correspondent,  Mrs.  Logan," 
sending  him  "what  she  calls  a  white  Iris  from  Georgia,"  but 
whether  certainly  of  this  species  we  cannot  tell. 

Gronovius  says  the  vernal  Iris  was  reputed  to  have  medicinal 
qualities,  and  Dr.  Peyre  Porcher  seems  to  confirm  this  by 
remarking  that  "  it  is  said  to  possess  properdes  similar  to  those 
of  the  L.  versicolor."  The  chief  of  these  properdes  may  be 
given  in  the  language  of  Bartram  that  "  the  root  is  considered 
by  the  Indians  a  very  powerful  cathardc,  and  it  is  found  in 
ardficial  ponds  made  for  the  purpose  near  their  villages." 

For  the  plant  from  which  our  drawing  was  made  we  are 
indebted  to  Prof.  Sargent,  of  the  Cambridge  Botanical  Garden. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  Leaf  growth  of  last  year  with  flower  bud  the  following 
spring  arising  from  its  base.     2.  Terminal  growth  of  the  previous  year. 


\kL 


K/r\r\-n\r\T  a      /^t^/t\tt(~\  a 


WOODSIA  OBTUSA. 
COMMON   WOODSIA. 

NATURAL    ORDER.    FILICES. 


WooDSiA  OFTUSA,  Torrey. — Frond  sub-pinnate,  or  nearly  tri-pinnate.  Minutely  glandular- 
pilous;  leaflets  distant;  segments  of  the  leaflets  pinnatifid;  ultimate  segments  roundish- 
oblong,  obtuse,  bi-dentate ;  sori  round,  one  at  each  cleft  between  the  leaflets,  at  length 
crowded ;  stipe  somewhat  chaffy.  Fronds  lance-oblong  in  outline,  three  times  as  long 
as  wide.  Segments  of  the  leaflets  crevate-serrate,  the  lower  ones  distinct,  upper  con- 
fluent. Sori  orbicular,  becoming  nearly  confluent,  each  at  first  enclosed  in  the  silvery 
indusium  which  when  open  is  notched  into  little  teeth  on  the  margin.  (Wood's  Class- 
Book  of  Botany.  See  also  Gray's  Flora  of  the  Northern  United  States,  Chapman's 
Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Williamson's  Ferns  of  Kentucky.) 


ilLONG  the  Wissahickon  Creek,  in  Falrmount  Park,  Phila- 
delphia, and  from  whence  the  plant  was  taken  which 
served  us  for  an  illustration,  this  fern  is  not  uncommon,  and 
it  is  remarkable  that  it  is  almost  always  to  be  found  on  dry  walls 
— that  is  to  say,  walls  built  of  stone  without  mortar — when  these 
walls  are  in  a  damp  or  shady  place.  The  little  ledges  formed  by 
the  stones,  and  the  little  spaces  between  the  stones  in  the  wall, 
are  favorite  situations  with  this  fern,  as  also  are  those  parts  of 
the  stone  breastworks  of  dams  over  which  the  water  does  not 
actually  flow.  Occasionally  it  is  found  in  the  crevices  of  rocks, 
but  the  collector  will  be  much  more  likely  to  meet  with  it  in  this 
Park  by  going  to  the  nearest  old  wall  than  to  any  other  place. 

It  is  a  very  interesting  fern,  though  in  all  that  constitutes 
beauty,  there  are  others  superior  to  it.  One  of  its  happiest 
phases  is  towards  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  the  short  barren 
fronds  which  form  the  outer  circle  bend  downwards,  forming  a 
sort  of  rosette,  in  the  centre  of  which  the  fertile  fronds  some- 
what erectly  stand.  In  the  part  of  our  country  where  our  illus- 
'    4  (49) 


50  WOODSIA    OBTUSA. COiMMON    WOODSIA. 

tration  grew,  these  barren  fronds  keep  tolerably  green  till  the 
new  ones  come  in  spring,  when  they  give  way  soon  after  the 
appearance  of  the  fertile  fronds,  and,  later  in  the  season,  another 
set  of  barren  fronds  appear.  Our  specimen  was  taken  about 
the  end  of  May,  and  from  this  time  to  the  end  of  October  the 
student  may  find  along  the  Wissahickon  excellent  specimens  for 
study.  In  other  parts  of  the  country  the  plant  does  not  seem  to 
be  so  highly  favored.  Mr.  Williamson  says,  in  his  "  Ferns  of 
Kentucky,"  "  that  in  that  State  it  grows  in  exposed  situadons, 
being  better  able  to  endure  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  than  most 
ferns.  But  in  such  places  the  pinnae  are  often  very  much 
contracted,  so  that  they  seem  to  be  crisp,  and  apparendy  rolled 
up."  In  Indiana  also,  according  to  a  correspondent  of  the  first 
volume  of  the  "  Botanical  Gazette,"  who  writes  from  Hanover,  it 
dies  away  early  in  the  season.  He  says  :  "  Early  in  July,  while 
rambllne  amongf  some  of  the  limestone  cliff  rocks  of  the  Ohio 
River,  we  secured  our  first  specimens  o{  Asplenhmi  Ritta-mura- 
via,  in  beautiful  fruit;  and  since  then  we  have  visited  the  same 
region  every  month  in  order  to  confirm  our  observations  as  to  its 
being  an  evergreen,  and  we  are  now  fully  convinced  of  the  accu- 
racy of  our  former  remarks  on  this  point.  Associated  with  this 
species  and  fruiting  abundandy  at  the  same  time,  we  found  quite 
a  growth  of  IVoodsia  obtusa,  but  by  the  end  of  August  it  had 
entirely  v.nthered  away.  Its  fruiting  season  begins  here  proba- 
bly early  in  June."  Other  botanists  seem  to  have  very  much  lim- 
ited the  time  when  it  may  be  found  in  fruit.  Dr.  Darlington  in 
his  "Flora  Cestrica"  gives  merely  "  July  ;  "  as  also  does  Professor 
Asa  Gray  and  Professor  Wood,  from  whom  our  botanical 
description  is  taken.  They  are  probably  referring  to  the  time  ot 
the  fruit's  first  appearance  ;  but  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are 
making  collecUons  it  is  well  to  note  how  long  it  endures. 

Its  botanical  history  has  been  varied.  The  knowledge  of  die 
true  character  of  ferns  is  of  comparatively  modern  date.  In  the 
time  of  Linnseus  all  the  known  North  American  ferns  would  be 
referred  to  a  very  few  genera,  possibly  only  to  Osnmnda.  Pte7ds, 


WOODSIA    OBTUSA. COMMON    WOODSIA. 


51 


Adiantum,  Asploiiiuji  and  Polypodnuu.  Our  plant  seems  to 
have  been  known  to  Sprengel,  a  voluminous  author  of  the  first 
quarter  of  our  century,  who  probably  received  his  specimen 
from  his  Pennsylvania  correspondent,  Muhlenberg,  and  it  is 
referred  to  by  other  writers  about  that  period  as  Polypodiinn 
obtusuni.  Swartz,  a  well-known  botanical  authority,  especially 
on  ferns,  is  usually  quoted  by  moderns  for  the  name,  but 
we  refer  to  Sprengel  in  connection  with  it  as  the  proper 
authority.  As  ferns  became  better  understood  it  was  conceded 
not  to  be  a  Polypodiuni,  and  it  was  placed  as  an  Aspidhun,  a 
genus  established  by  Swartz,  under  which  name  it  is  recorded  by 
Muhlenberg  in  his  catalogue  issued  in  1813.  The  genus  Wood- 
sia  had  been  established  by  R.  Brown  before  this,  and  Polypo- 
dimn  Uvensis  and  others  placed  therein  ;  and  it  was  not  until  its 
true  relations  were  established  by  Dr.  Torrey,  that  the  name  it 
is  now  known  by —  Woodsia  obhisa — came  into  general  use. 

The  name  ]Voodsia  is  due  to  Robert  Brown,  who  by  it  com- 
memorated his  friend  Joseph  Wood,  an  English  botanist  who  in 
the  earher  part  of  the  present  century  attained  considerable 
celebrity  by  a  monograph  of  Roses,  and  who  continued  to  be  a 
valuable  contributor  to  botanical  science  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1864.  The  name  obtiisuni  is  obvious,  but  why  given  to 
our  species  is  not  so  clear.  Many  of  the  species  with  which  it 
was  then  associated  in  its  early  history  had  pinnules  which  ter- 
minated sharply,  and  some  one  of  this  character  nearly  allied  to 
it  might  have  suggested  a  comparison  with  this  species  which 
had  them  moie  obtuse.  At  any  rate  the  comparison  which  we 
have  now  to  make  with  its  present  family  relations,  is  unfavora- 
ble to  its  name,  as  some  of  its  sister  species  have  blunter  leaves. 
However  it  might  have  passed  as  an  "  obtuse-leaved  Polypo- 
diuvi"  it  is  misleading  to  call  it  "  obtuse-leaved  Woodsia,''  as  is 
often  the  case  in  botanical  works.  It  is  an  illustration  ot  the 
trouble  that  arises  from  the  use  of  specific  names  which  mean 
something,  and  is  a  good  point  for  those  who  regard  personal 
names  as  much  more  satisfactory.     Its  old  name  of  "  Rock  Pol)  - 


52  WOODSIA    OBTUSA. COMMON    WOODSIA, 

pody "  Is  also  objectionable,  though  still  much  in  use.  As  we 
are  left  without  any  acceptable  popular  name,  we  would  suggest 
"  Common  Woodsia,"  as  it  is  perhaps  the  best  known  of  all  the 
American  species  of  the  genus. 

It  is  widely  distributed  over  the  Eastern  portion  of  the  United 
States.  Mr.  Redfield  Includes  it  In  his  Appalachian  group, 
which  comprises  those  species  found  in  the  mountain  and  hilly 
regions  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

Dr.  Gray  in  his  "  Manual "  locates  it  on  "  Rocky  banks  and 
cliffs  especially  northward ;  "  Chapman  gives  "  Rocks  along  the 
Allegheny  Mountains  and  northwards  ;  "  and  Wood  refers  it  to 
"among  and  on  rocks,  New  York,  to  Kentucky  and  Tennessee." 
It  Is  possible  it  may  be  a  little  beyond  the  strict  line  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, of  which  botanically  the  Missouri  forms  a  part,  for  Mr. 
James  Wilson  reports  it  from  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  and  Pro- 
fessor Lesquereux  regards  it,  though  with  some  doubt,  as  indig- 
enous to  Arkansas.  Mr.  Howard  Shriver  notes  it  as  abundant 
in  Pulaski  county,  V'iiginia. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  Medium-sized  specimen  from  Pennsylvania,  taken  in  June. 
2.  Enlarged  pinna  in  fruit. 


4     ^'  ^i^iim^^lk. 


c^rf^ 


a>- 


Phacelta  bipinnatipida. 


PHACELIA  BIPINNATIFIDA. 
BIPINNATE   PHACELIA. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  HYDROPHYLLACE^. 

PHACELIA  BIPINNATIFIDA,  Michaux.— A  foot  Or  more  high  from  a  slender  biennial  root, 
erect,  paniculately  branched,  hirsute-pubescent  and  above  mostly  viscid  and  glandular: 
leaves  slender-petioled,  green  and  thin,  pinnately  three  to  seven-divided ;  the  divisions 
ovate  or  oblong-ovate,  acute,  coarsely  and  irregularly  incised  or  pinnatifid ;  the  lower 
short-petiolulate  and  the  uppermost  confluent :  racemes  loose,  seven  to  twenty-flowered: 
pedicels  spreading  or  in  fruit  recurved:  calyx-lobes  linear,  loose,  longer  than  the 
globular  capsule:  corolla  rotate- campanulate,  violet-blue,  over  half  an  inch  in  diameter, 
with  rather  short  rounded  lobes  and  very  conspicuous  internal  appendages:  stamens 
(bearded)  and  style  usually  more  or  less  exserted.  (Gray's  Synoptical  Flora  of  North 
America.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States  ;  Chap- 
man's Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States  ;  and  Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.) 

Dr.  Gray's  recent  "  Synoptical  Flora  of  North 
America,"  from  which  we  have  taken  our  botanical 
description,  fifty-five  Phacelcas  are  described ;  and  yet  less  than 
a  hundred  years  ago  not  one  was  known.  The  first  knowl- 
edge of  them  seems  to  have  been  gained  from  Commerson's 
celebrated  voyage,  when  one  which  w^e  now  know  as  Phacelia 
circijiata  \N2iS,  found  in  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  It  was  at  that 
time  thought  to  be  a  Heliotrope,  and  Martin  Vahl,  a  Danish 
botanist,  and  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  that  time,  named  it 
Hdiotropium  pinnatum,  under  w^hich  it  is  to  be  searched  for  in 
the  earlier  writings  of  Willdenow  and  of  some  others.  But 
Jussieu,  the  well-known  botanist  of  the  end  of  the  last  century, 
in  his  "Genera  Plantarum "  pubHshed  in  1789,  made  a  new 
genus  of  it,  Phacelia,  w^hich  name  it  still  bears.  That  particular 
species  has  the  flowers  growing  in  dense  bunches  or  fascicles, 
and  this  suggested  the  name,  phakclos  being  Greek  for  a 
fasiculus  or  bunch.     This   original   species   is  very  remarkable 

(53) 


54  PHACELIA    BIPINNATIFIDA. BIPINNATE    PHACELIA. 

for  its  great  geographical  range,  being,  as  "the  Botany  of  the 
Geological  Survey  of  California"  tells  us,  "common  to  the  two 
Continents  and  ranges  almost  throughout  their  length,"  meaning 
the  Northern  and  Southern  portions  of  this  one  Continent,  for 
the  genus  is  wholly  confined  to  the  Western  Hemisphere, — and 
indeed  nearly  the  whole  of  them  are  natives  of  the  United 
States. 

The  history  of  these  Phacelias  affords  a  lesson  in  the  laws  of 
nomenclature  which  it  may  be  well  to  explain  to  the  student  as 
we  pass  along.  Though  we  adopt  the  name  first  given  by  the 
botanist  who  describes  the  plant,  the  description  which  he  gives 
with  his  name  is  not  always  accepted  without  modificadon.  For 
instance  Phacelia  described  by  Jussieu  requires  the  plants  com.- 
prising  the  genus  to  have  corollas  "  sub-campanulate  ;  "  while  the 
genus  as  now  described  in  the  Botany  of  California  has  the 
corolla  from  "almost  rotate  to  narrow  funnel  form."  Then  the 
stamens  according  to  Jussieu  must  be  "exserted  and  styles 
short "  to  consdtute  a  Phacelia,  while  Dr.  Gray  in  the  "  Sy- 
nopsis"  makes  no  generic  reference  to  the  stamens  or  pistils, — 
indeed  some  Phacelias,  as  we  now  understand  them,  have  not 
exserted  stamens,  and  as  we  may  see  in  our  plate,  have  styles 
that  are  certainly  not  short.  In  fact  if  a  student  were  to  read 
carefully  the  description  of  the  genus  as  given  by  Jussieu,  and 
then  that  by  Brewer,  Watson,  or  Dr.  Gray,  he  could  scarcely 
believe  that  the  same  plants  were  intended  by  the  same  name. 

Again  we  may  have  a  lesson  respecUng  the  specific  names. 
The  author's  name,  which  we  attach  to  the  name  of  a  plant,  does 
not  imply  that  that  author  was  the  first  who  described  the 
species,  and  who  first  made  it  known, — but  that  he  was  the 
person  who  applied  that  pardcular  name  to  the  plant.  For 
instance,  there  is  a  plant  which  was  known  as  Eutoca  sericea 
of  Graham,  and  Curtis'  "  Botanical  Magazine."  But  Professor 
Gray  does  not  recognize  EtUoca  as  sufficiently  disUnct  to  form  a 
separate  genus  from  Phacelia,  so  he  renames  it,  and  it  stands  as 
Phacelia  sericea  of  Gray.     In  this  way  Graham  loses  all  credit, 


PHACELIA    BIPINNATIFIDA. BIPINNATE    rflACELIA. 


DD 


and  there  is  nothing  whatever  to  associate  his  name  with  the 
history  of  the  plant,  unless  some  botanical  antiquary  digs  it  out 
from  the  mass  of  synonyms  under  which  so  much  lies  buried. 
It  does  not  seem  fair,  but  it  is  the  law  of  botany,  and  indeed  it  is 
one  of  those  necessities  which  must  be  submitted  to.  Several 
supposed  genera,  as  for  instance  CosmantJms,  Whitlavia  and 
Eufoca,  which  once  had  severally  many  species  under  their 
names,  are  all  now  regarded  by  Dr.  Gray  as  sections  of  Phacdia, 
and  this  is  why  the  genus  seems  to  have  grown  so  large  as  it  is 
at  the  present  time. 

Our  pretty  species,  Phacdia  bipinnatijida,  has  litde  to  boast  of 
in  the  way  of  popular  history  ;  but  it  will  commend  itself  to  all 
lovers  of  wild  flowers  by  its  simple  beauty.  It  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  nodced  by  the  older  botanists ;  Michaux  in  his 
"Flora  of  North  America,"  in  1803,  being  the  first  to  name  and 
describe  it,  probably  from  Kentucky  specimens.  It  is  subject  to 
some  variadons,  one  of  sufficient  character  to  have  been  regarded 
as  a  distinct  species.  This  is  Phacdia  brcvistylis  of  Buckley, 
though  now  only  a  variety  of  Gray,  while  still  retaining  its 
original  specific  name.  This  pardcular  variety  was  found  in 
Alabama  by  Professor  S.  B.  Buckley,  now  the  State  Geologist 
of  Texas.  In  its  geographical  relations  it  is  found  according  to 
Professor  Gray,  in  his  "  Synopsis,"  "  in  the  shaded  banks  of 
streams,  from  Ohio  and  Illinois  to  Alabama."  It  does  not  seem 
to  extend  to  the  lower  lands  near  the  coast,  and  is  probably 
not  usually  met  with  by  collectors  along  what  might  be  properly 
called  the  seaboard  States.  Darby,  in  his  "  Botany  of  the 
Southern  States,"  does  not  include  it  even  in  so  late  an  edition 
as  1866.  Dr.  Chapman  has  it  in  his  "Flora,"  but  confines  it  to 
"  shaded  banks  in  Alabama  and  North  Carolina."  Professor 
Wood  finds  it  in  "  woods  and  hill-sides,  Pennsylvania,  to  Indiana 
(Plummer),  Missouri  and  Ohio."  We  may  gather  from  all  this 
that  it  favors  a  mountain  region,  and  is  partial  to  the  shade  of 
open  woods.  In  the  "Botanical  Gazette"  for  1876,  the  editor 
nodces  very  singular  behavior  in  the  plant  in  his  section,  Jeffer- 


56  PHACELIA    BIPINNATIFIDA. BiriNNATE    PHACELIA. 

son  county,  Indiana.  He  says:  ''Phacclia  bipinnatijida,  Mx., 
seems  to  be  very  uncertain  in  its  growth.  For  two  seasons  I 
watched  closely  for  it  and  did  not  secure  a  single  specimen  ;  but 
this  spring  our  hill-sides  are  fairly  blue  with  it,  and  its  presence 
may  be  perceived  by  the  peculiar  pungent  odor  rising  from  it," 
This  periodicity  in  their  appearance  has  however  been  noted  in 
connection  with  some  other  plants ;  but  whether  it  be  that  the 
seed  retains  its  vitality  for  several  years  until  a  favorable 
season  occurs  for  its  germination,  or  whether  it  be  that  there 
were  a  few  plants  that  escaped  the  researcher's  observation, 
which  perfected  seed,  and  a  favorable  season  following  encour- 
aged to  a  more  than  usual  orrowth,  has  never  been  clear  to  the 
mind  of  the  writer,  and  renewed  observations  are  needed. 

It  is  a  biennial  and  has  often  been  introduced  to  culture,  but 
has  never  become  a  standard  stock  in  seedsmen's  catalogues, 
showing  that  it  does  not  remain  long  in  gardens.  Possibly  its 
shade-loving  character,  as  judged  from  its  native  locations, 
renders  it  impatient  of  open  sunny  garden  borders  ;  but  its  beauty 
when  under  favorable  circumstances  should  make  it  worth  while 
to  attempt  to  humor  it. 

The  drawing  for  our  plate  was  made  from  a  plant  under  Mr. 
Dawson's  charge  in  the  Arnold  Arboretum  of  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. 


RUDBECKIA    FULGIDA. 
BRILLIANT   CONE-FLOWER. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    COMPOSIT/E. 

RuDBECKiA  FULGIDA,  Alton. — Stem  hirsute  with  rigid  hairs;  branches  slender,  naked  above; 
leaves  strigous-pubescent,  remotely  dentate,  radical  petiolate,  ovate,  five-veined,  cauline 
lance-oblong,  tapering  to  the  sessile,  sub-clasping  base ;  scales  oblong,  spreading,  as  long 
as  the  spreadmg  rays;  pales  glabrous,  linear  oblong,  obtuse.  Stem  from  one  to  three  feet 
high.  Rays  twelve  to  fourteen,  scarcely  longer  than  the  leafy  involucre,  deep  orange- 
yellow.  (Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botatiy  of  the 
N'orthern  I  'niteJ  States,  and  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  Stales.) 

HE  genus  Riidbeckia  to  which  our  present  ilkistration 
belongs  has  received  no  common  name  from  the  com- 
mon people ;  but  botanists  have  called  it  the  "  Cone-flower," 
because  the  conical  receptacle,  or  that  which  supports  the  centre 
of  the  flower,  is  more  conical  than  that  of  the  sun-flowers  [Heliaii- 
thus)  with  which  it  was  thought  to  have  some  relationship  many 
years  ago.  It  is  proper  however  to  remind  the  reader  that  names 
must  be  regarded  as  but  names,  and  litde  more ;  for  in  naming 
a  plant  from  some  peculiarity  we  can  never  know  when  another 
one  may  be  discovered  having  the  same  character  though 
differing  in  something  else.  Indeed  it  often  happens  that  a  new 
plant,  waiting  for  a  name,  has  a  known  peculiarity  much 
more  strikingly  developed  than  its  elder  sister.  We  cannot 
however  alter  names  on  this  account,  because  such  a  change 
would  be  a  greater  evil  than  the  misunderstandings  from  the 
application  of  the  term.  It  has  therefore  become  the  habit  to 
regard  lightly  the  meaning  of  the  name  so  far  as  idcntihcaticn 
of  the  plant  is  concerned.  This  is  worth  remembering  when  we 
think  of  "  Cone-flower  "  in  connection  with  Rudbcckia,  for  there 

(57) 


58  RUDIiECKIA    FULGIDA. ^BRILLIANT    CONE-FLOWER. 

are  now  genera  not  far  removed  from  Rudbcckia,  which  have  the 
receptacle  as  much  and  in  some  cases  more  conical  than  these. 

The  conical  receptacle  must  have  attracted  considerable  atten- 
tion from  the  first,  for  before  the  genus  was  named  Riidbeckia 
by  Linnaeus  it  was  described  as  Obeliscotheca  by  Sebastian  Var- 
iant, a  French  botanist,  the  name  being  from  the  Greek  obelisk, 
and  thcca,  a  cell — the  litde  cell-like  florets  being  arranged  on  the 
obelisk  or  cone-like  receptacle.  But  Linnaeus  when  he  reformed 
botanical  nomenclature  ruled  that  generic  names,  composed  of 
two  distinct  nouns,  or  of  two  words  one  of  which  is  entire,  if 
ever  allowed,  were  not  to  be  imitated;  and  we  can  readily 
understand  why  ObcliscotJieca  s\\o\\\A  be  replaced;  so  in  1737  in 
the  "Genera  Plantarum  "  of  Linnaeus  we  find  the  genus  dedi- 
cated to  the  Rudbecks  •'  Olao  patri,  et  olao  filio  " — Olaus  the 
father  and  Olaus  the  son — and  not  merely  "  from  ^L  Rudbeck, 
a  Swede,  author  of  a  Botanical  work  entitled  'Campos  Elysius,'" 
as  one  of  our  text-books  tells  us.  These  Rudbecks  were  the 
predecessors  in  the  Chair  of  Botany  at  Upsal  in  Sweden,  and 
there  seems  to  be  no  special  reason  why  their  names  should  be 
connected  with  these  plants  beyond  the  fact  that  Linnaeus  had  a 
high  regard  for  them.  It  is  a  distinctively  American  genus, 
having  no  representatives  in  the  Old  World,  and  to  us  in  these 
days  it  may  be  allowable  to  regret  that  all  plants  of  this  charac- 
ter did  not  commemorate  the  names  of  those  in  immediate  con- 
nection with  the  knowledge  of  American  plants. 

Rudbcckia  has  many  points  of  interest  worthy  of  the  student's 
attention,  which,  though  they  can  be  observed  more  or  less  in 
many  other  genera,  are  striking  here.  We  may  remember  that 
a  flower  head  in  Composites  is  as  if  a  piece  of  wire  were  drawn 
round  in  many  coils  ;  and  that  if  we  could  draw  out  this  wire- 
like coil,  it  would  appear  as  any  ordinary  stem  growth — say  a 
long  willow  branch,  with  a  single  flower  in  the  axil  of  each  leaf. 
As  we  know  in  some  plants  the  leaves  remain  almost  unchanged 
as  bracts,  and  in  other  cases  they  arc  wholly  wanting,  as  is 
generally  the  case  in  the  cabbage  tribe ;  so  in   Composites  the 


RUUBECKIA    FULGIDA. BRILLIANT   CONE-FLOWER.  59 

same  general  principles  exist.  What  are  called  the  scales  of 
the  receptacle  are  really  floral  bracts,  which  in  some  cases  are 
wholly  obliterated  in  the  drawing  in  of  the  spiral  coil  to  form 
the  compound  head.  In  this  genus  Rudbcckia  these  scales  or 
bracts  are  very  prominent  in  the  centre  of  the  flower,  and  it  is 
not  till  the  divisions  of  the  little  florets  are  ready  to  expand  that 
we  see  them  above  the  tips  of  the  scales.  Again  in  some  com- 
posites that  have  a  sort  of  spicate  habit,  the  plant  will  complete 
its  growth  before  any  flowers  expand,  and  then  it  commences 
the  blossoming  from  the  top  downwards  ;  while  others  flower 
from  below  upwards  as  the  flower  shoot  grows.  These  varying 
phases  of  growth  also  have  a  counterpart  in  these  single  heads. 
Sometimes  there  is  more  activity  in  the  centre  of  the  flower  than 
in  the  circumference,  and  these  varying  phases  make  differences 
in  the  sexual  characters.  In  some  it  results  in  giving  the  ray 
florets  an  advantage  ;  in  Rudbcckia  the  ray  will  be  found  quite 
barren,  rarely  producing  the  vestige  of  a  pistil,  and  no  sign  of  a 
stamen  ;  while  the  central  or  disk  florets  are  perfecdy  herma- 
phrodite, and  alone  bear  perfect  seed. 

The  development  of  the  florets  in  our  present  species,  R. 
fulgida,  is  very  interesting.  The  corolla  appears  to  be  forced 
open  by  the  growth  of  the  pistil,  which  as  it  elongates,  pushes 
on  before  it  an  immense  quantity  of  beautiful  yellow  pollen. 
The  first  knowledge  we  have  of  the  opening  of  the  flower  is 
from  the  appearance  of  this  pollen  through  the  divisions  of  the 
corolla.  This  profusion  of  pollen  seems  very  welcome  to  a 
large  number  of  insects,  is  collected  at  once,  and  so  completely 
that  it  is  only  by  putting  a  flower  under  protection  that  the 
pretty  little  crown  of  yellow  can  be  seen  and  the  progress  of  the 
opening  florets  traced.  When  it  is  remembered  that  a  single 
grain  of  pollen  is  sufficient  to  fertilize  a  single  ovule,  which 
finally  becomes  the  seed,  one  is  lost  in  wonder  that  so  much 
effort  should  be  spent  on  its  production.  It  may  be  in  some 
way  connected  with  the  plant's  own  good,  or  it  may  be  the 
result  of  a  far-reaching  Omnipotence  making  the  plant  work  for 


60  RUDBECKIA    FULGIDA. BRILLIANT   CONE-FLOWER. 

the  good  of  other  members  of  creation,  or  even  for  the  future  of 
its  own  race,  beyond  its  own  immediate  individual  interest. 

Our  Rudbeckia  fidgida  has  the  general  aspect  of  some  of  its 
neighbors,  and  especially  of  R.  hirta,  from  which  however  its 
smooth  chaff  is  a  good  distinction.  The  chaff  of  R.  hirta  is  hairy 
at  the  summit. 

In  his  "School  Botany,"  Dr.  Gray  gives  a  list  of  "the  com- 
monest species,"  and  as  ours  is  omitted,  we  may  regard  it  as 
rare.  It  is  indeed  much  more  limited  in  its  geographical  range 
than  some  of  its  kindred,  yet  one  who  has  seen  it  so  abundandy 
as  it  is  found  in  the  meadows  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania  may  well 
wonder  why  it  has  not  spread  more  elsewhere. 

Pennsylvania  seems  its  northern  limit.  It  extends  to  Central 
Ohio,  and  then  southwesterly  to  Arkansas,  which  is  its  western 
line.  From  this  it  extends  southeasterly  to  Florida,  keeping, 
Professor  Wood  says,  chiefly  to  the  more  elevated  districts. 


ExPLy^ NATIONS  OF  THE  PLATE. — I.  Root  leaves.  2.  Upper  portion  of  stem  with  flowers.  3. 
Disk  floret  with  akene  and  chaffy  scale  at  the  base.  4.  Disk  floret  opened,  showing  the 
short  stamens  through  which  the  pistil  has  protruded.  Pollen  grains  on  the  expanded 
lobes.     5.   Pollen  grain  magnified. 


r^,  .„„.__- 


CYPRIPEDIUM  ACAULE. 
STEMLESS   MOCCASIN   FLOWER. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  ORCHIDACE^. 

CYPRIPEDIUM  ACAULE,  Aiton. — Scape  leafless,  one-flowered  ;  leaves  two,  radical,  elliptic-oblong, 
rather  acute ;  lobe  of  the  column  roundish-rhomboidal,  acuminate,  deflexed  ;  petals  lan- 
ceolate; lip  longer  than  the  petals,  cleft  before.  Leaves  large,  plaited,  and  downy. 
Scape  ten  to  fourteen  inches  high,  with  a  single  lanceolate  bract  at  the  base  of  the  large, 
solitary  flower.  Sepals  half  an  inch  long,  the  two  lower  completely  united  into  a  broad 
lanceolate  one  beneath  the  lip.  Petals  lateral,  wavy.  (Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany. 
See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States ;  and  Chapman's 
Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.) 


HIS  species  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  moccasin 
flowers,  and  has  received  many  popular  names.  Among 
them  may  be  noted  purple  Lady's-slipper,  Noah's  ark,  and 
Dwarf  Umbil,  as  perhaps  the  best  known.  Even  the  botanists 
have  multiplied  their  special  names;  and  while  some  write 
of  it  under  the  title  of  Cypripedhwz  acaule,  as  given  at  the 
head  of  this  chapter,  there  are  others  who  always  refer  to  it  as 
C.  huinih.  The  latter  name  was  given  to  it  by  Salisbury  in  the 
"Transactions  of  the  Linnaean  Society  of  London,"  and  the  former 
by  Aiton.  Of  the  modern  American  authors,  Barton,  Darby, 
and  others  use  Salisbury's  name ;  while  Gray,  Chapman,  and 
Wood  employ  the  name  given  by  Aiton.  The  two  names  must 
have  appeared  about  the  same  time  at  the  end  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. The  rule  is  to  take  the  oldest.  Our  m.odern  botanists 
are  generally  careful  in  deciding  these  questions,  and  we  pre- 
sume C.  acaule  will  prevail. 

This  species  of  moccasin  flower  has  been  known  for  a  long 
time  to  botanists,  and  a  figure  of  it  appears  in  Curtis'  "Botanical 
Magazine"  in  1792.     The  editor  says:  "We  havt>  not  figured 


62  CYPRIPEDIUM    ACAULE. STEMLESS    MOCCASIN    FLOWER. 

the  present  species  of  Cypripediinn  so  much  on  account  of  its 
beauty  as  of  its  rarity,  for  it  is  far  less  handsome  than  any  of  the 
other  species  that  we  are  acquainted  with."  It  may  be  noted 
here  that  the  species  is  very  variable,  and  Mr.  Curtis  had  but 
one  of  the  poorest  of  the  varieties  to  draw  from.  Our  readers, 
looking  at  our  drawing,  will  probably  pronounce  it  a  beautiful 
species.  We  have  often  found  taller  specimens  on  the  hills  bor- 
dering the  Susquehanna  river  in  Pennsylvania,  besides  larger 
and  more  vigorous  every  way  than  that  which  we  have  selected 
for  illustration.  The  color  of  the  one  in  our  plate  is,  however, 
as  rich  as  in  any  of  the  forms  usually  found. 

There  are  some  special  points  in  the  structure  of  this  Cypripe- 
dium  which  gives  Its  beauty  a  peculiar  interest  among  moccasin 
flowers.  The  peculiar  slipper-like  lip,  which  is  so  striking  in 
other  species,  is  modified  in  this  one  by  having,  as  Professor 
Wood  says,  "the  lip  cleft  before" — that  is  to  say,  the  shoe  has 
been  slit  down  along  the  upper  portion  of  the  foot !  This  makes 
it  look  more  like  a  shell  than  a  slipper.  Another  peculiarity  is 
that  it  is  stemless — that  is,  the  flower  stalk  arises  direcdy  from 
the  root  stock,  and  is  not  supported  on  a  leafy  stem,  as  in  other 
species.  Herein  is  found  the  derivation  of  both  of  its  names — 
acaulc  and  huiuile  ;  each  signifying  a  lowly  condition  of  existence. 
It  grows  naturally  under  trees  in  rather  dry  situations.  Dr. 
Gray  in  the  "Manual"  says  it  is  found  in  "dry  or  moist  woods, 
under  evergreens."  If  this  mean  that  it  is  only  found  under 
evergreens,  the  observations  of  that  distinguished  author  are  at 
variance  with  those  of  other  collectors.  In  Pennsylvania  the 
writer  has  but  once  collected  it  under  hemlock  spruces.  Its 
general  place  of  growth  is  in  woods  of  deciduous  trees,  and  in 
such  situations  it  is  usually  found  in  New  Jersey.  Though  in 
these  places  it  is  somewhat  gregarious,  that  is  to  say,  a  great 
number  may  be  often  collected  in  one  wood;  the  individual  plants 
are  much  scattered,  and  are  generally  at  least  several  feet  apart. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  branches  of  modern  botanical 
study  relates  to  the  manner  in  which  flowers  receive  their  pollen. 


CYPRIPEDIUM    ACAULE. STEMLESS    MOCCASIN    FLOWER.  63 

In  some  plants  the  floral  arrangements  are  such  that  the  flower 
cannot  receive  its  own  pollen,  and  it  seems  to  some  botanists 
that  this  is  in  accord  with  a  pre-arranged  plan  to  compel  the  use 
only  of  pollen  brought  from  other  flowers  by  insect  aid.  In  this 
study  Cypripcdiuin  has  taken  a  prominent  part,  Dr.  Gray,  in 
"  Silliman's  Journal"  for  1867,  deciding  after  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  structure  "in  all  the  species,  it  is  impossible  that  fertil- 
ization should  be  effected  without  extraneous  aid."  Our  present 
species,  C.  acaulc,  is  one  that  was  the  especial  object  of  Dr. 
Gray's  examination.  He  shows  that  its  pollen  is  very  sticky, 
and  is  carried  away  either  bodily  or  piece-meal  on  the  heads  or 
other  parts  of  insects.  He  describes  how  they  enter  the  flower 
by  one  lateral  opening  in  search  of  sweets  with  the  pollen  on 
their  heads  rubbing  against  the  stigma,  and  escaping  by  the  hole 
on  the  other  side!  Dr.  Gray  says  he  has  not  detected  insects 
actually  at  work  in  this  way,  but  he  gathers  from  their  traces  and 
from  a  variety  of  facts  that,  "  even  in  Cypripcdmni  acaule,  the 
insects  act  in  the  manner  described."  The  study  of  these  singu- 
lar arrangements,  some  connected  especially  with  the  plant  w-e 
have  illustrated  here,  led  him  to  say,  ''  Hereafter  teleology  must 
go  hand-in-hand  with  morphology;  functions  must  be  studied  as 
well  as  forms,  and  useful  ends  presumed,  whether  ascertained  or 
not,  in  every  permanent  modification  of  every  structure." 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  attempts  to  cultivate  this  plant, 
extending  over  the  past  one  hundred  years,  have  met  with  little 
success.  According  to  Alton,  the  plant  was  first  introduced  into 
English  gardens  in  a  living  state  "about  1775  by  William  Ham- 
ilton, Esq.,"  and  this  is  generally  followed  by  chronologists. 
But  we  find  by  Darlington's  "Memorials"  that  in  a  letter  to 
Peter  Collinson  dated  November,  1761,  John  Bartram  writes  of 
having  sent  roots  of  it  to  his  friend.  From  that  time  till  now 
the  stock  in  Europe  has  been  kept  up  mainly  by  importation  of 
full  grown  roots  from  our  land.  Mr.  Robinson,  in  his  interesting 
"Alpine  Flowers,"  gives  minute  directions  for  its  successful  cul- 
ture, but  concludes:   "  It  may  be  propagated  by  division,  but  the 


64  CYPRIPEDIUM    ACAULE. STEMLESS    MOCCASIN    FLOWER. 

plants  in  the  country  at  present  are  too  small  and  puny  to  bear 
this."  In  our  own  country  a  correspondent  of  the  "  Bulletin  of 
the  Torrey  Botanical  Club,"  in  the  third  volume,  remarks :  "  I 
cannot  keep  Cypripedhmt  acaule,  although  I  have  seen  it  in 
nearly  pure  dry  sand  and  in  wet  sphagnum  (moss.)  It  is  curious 
that  C.  aamle  has  only  one  bud  to  each  plant."  So  far  as  this 
last  point  is  concerned,  it  will  be  noted  that  the  'one  illustrated 
has  two,  though  only  one  flowered. 

The  purple  moccasin  flower  is  rather  widely  distributed.  We 
have  special  notes  of  its  being  collected  in  almost  all  the  seaboard 
states  from  Maine  to  North  Carolina.  It  has  been  found  in 
Kentucky,  and  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  United  States  as 
far  as  Minnesota. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate.— Complete  plant,  a  Massachusetts  specimen  furnished  by  Mr 
Jackson  Dawson.  2.  The  column,  or  central  part  of  the  flower  enlarged,  and  showing  tin 
united  mass  of  stamens  with  the  pistil,  or,  as  it  is  said,  its  "gynandrous"  character. 


n 


A^K/m^^r\o■r^^~>^  Tc    td  o t r/ r^ •n ux/t  t  no 


CAMPTOSORUS    RHIZOPHYLLUS. 
WALKING-LEAF. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    FILICES. 


CAMPTOSORUS  RHizorHYlXUS,  Link. — Fronds  auriculate-cordate  at  the  base,  lanceolate,  with 
a  long  slender  acumination  which  often  takes  root  at  the  apex.  Frond  two  to  nine  inches 
long,  and  half  of  an  inch  to  an  inch  wide,  evergreen,  sometimes  bifid  with  two  acuminations ; 
stipe  one  to  four  inches  long,  slightly  margined  above,  smooth.  Sori  often  half  an  inch 
in  length.  (Darlington's  ^/(3ra  Cestrica.  See  also  Gx'A.f?,  Alamial  of  the  Botany  of  the 
Northern  United  States,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  [as  Anti- 
gramma  rhizophyUa'\  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.  Also  'EiiXori'?,  Ferns  of  Xorth  A7ner- 
ica  and  Williamson's  Ferns  of  Kentucky.') 


HOSE  who  are  fond  of  wild  Nature,  and  who  love  to  take 
her  just  as  she  is,  fresh  from  her  Maker's  hands,  often 
have  to  thank  their  favorite  poets  for  beautiful  thoughts  which 
seem  to  deeply  engrave  the  scene  on  the  memory,  and  which 
enable  them  to  recall  the  pleasant  picture  at  any  future  time. 
We  have  just  such  an  impression  as  we  are  writing  these  lines 
on  the  Walking-leaf  Fern,  though  the  reality  passed  many  years 
ago.  It  was  on  the  Lehigh  river  in  Northern  Pennsylvania, 
and  far  from  human  habitations.  The  Pine  trees  interlaced  their 
branches,  and  little  vegetation  could  exist  in  the  shade  beneath ; 
only  the  trailing  yew,  and,  everywhere  on  the  huge  scattered 
rocks,  the  Walking-leaf  fern.  It  seemed  the  very  suggestion  of 
the  invocation  of  the  well-known  English  poet  Thomson — 

"  To  Ilim,  ye  vocal  gales. 
Breathe  soft  whose  spirit  in  your  freshness  breathes ; 
Oh,  talk  of  Him  in  solitary  gloom  ! 
Where,  o'er  the  rock,  the  scarcely-waving  Pine 
Fills  the  brown  shade  with  a  religious  awe." 

It  is  indeed  generally  in  these  sombre,  awe-inspiring,  rocky 

5  (65) 


66  CA]\IPTOSORUS    RHIZOPHYLLUS. WALKING-LEAF. 

woods  that  our  plant  is  found  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  in  other 
states  some  similar  situation  is  usually  its  home.  The  specimen 
for  our  illustration  was  gathered  near  Philadelphia,  along  the 
Wissahickon — 

"  In  the  green  valley,  where  the  silver  brook. 
From  its  full  laver,  pours  the  white  cascade  ; 
And,  bubbling  low  amid  the  tangled  woods, 
Slips  down  through  moss-grown  stones  with  endless  laughter;  " 

and  where,  if  Longfellow  had  taken  this  pretty  picture  from  the 
very  spot,  he  might  have  noticed  the  Walking-leaf  on  the  moss- 
grown  stones  among  which  here  at  least  it  loves  to  grow. 

There  has  been  much  controversy  as  to  the  kind  of  rock  on 
which  the  plant  is  found  growing,  some  writers  having  claimed 
for  limestone  the  sole  privilege  of  finding  it  a  home.  But  great 
numbers  of  observers  have  since  recorded  locations  on  sandstone 
rock  ;  and  the  specimen  we  illustrate  was  taken  from  gneiss,  a 
variety  of  granite  rock,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Wissahickon 
before  referred  to.  That  it  was  well  satisfied  with  its  location  is 
seen  by  its  picture,  which  is  a  fair  average  of  its  condition  as 
found  anywhere.  It  is  however  a  very  variable  fern.  Many 
collectors  have  found  specimens  with  double  fronds,  one  of  the 
auricles  or  ear-like  lobes  at  the  base  having  grown  out  to 
almost  the  extent  of  the  main  blade,  and  rooting  at  the  ends  like 
its  parent,  or,  as  in  such  cases  one  might  almost  say,  sister  frond. 
Where  our  specimen  was  found  one  frond  was  gathered  which 
had  both  auricles  developed  into  fronds,  not  as  long  as  the 
central  one,  all  three  rooting  at  the  ends,  and  having  a  remark- 
ably trifid  character.  Then  while  there  are  these  variations 
in  the  line  of  division,  there  are  often  found  tendencies  in  the 
opposite  direction,  that  is  to  say,  to  be  entire  leaved. 

Mr.  E.  A.  Rau,  of  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  contributes  to 
the  first  volume  of  "The  Botanical  Gazette"  an  account  of  many 
varying  forms,  among  others  "  some  bearing  sori,  in  which  the 
frond  is  remarkably  short,  oblong,  obtuse,  widening  at  the  base 
into  obtuse  auricles."  When  it  is  noticed,  as  in  our  plate, 
how    long    and    tapering    are    the    terminations    of  the    fronds, 


CAMPTOSORUS    RIITZOrilYI.IXTS.  —  WAI-KING-LEAF.  6/ 

it  will  be  understood  how  different  in  g-eneral  appearance 
an  oblong-  obtuse  frond  must  be.  Mr.  Jacob  Stauffer  collected 
a  form  at  Mount  Joy,  according  to  Dr.  Gray,  with  roundish  sori 
and  inconspicuous  veins. 

There  is  one  character  which  is  generally  constant:  the  veins 
seem  to  cross  each  other's  path,  and  form  a  sort  of  net-work,  or  as 
it  is  technically  called,  they  anastomose.  The  earlier  botanists 
had  overlooked  or  placed  little  value  on  these  characters  from 
the  veins  of  ferns,  and  hence  our  species  was  called  by  Linnaeus 
Asplenmm  rhizophylhun.  But  the  moderns  have  restricted 
Asplcnumi  to  those  which  have  free  veins  ;  that  is  to  say,  veins 
which  continue  their  whole  length  without  touching  each  other. 
Our  species  was  taken  from  Aspleniinn  in  1833  by  Link,  a  Ger- 
man botanist,  and  called  Cmuptosorus,  the  name  being  derived 
from  two  Greek  words,  signifying  a  bent  heap,  and  this  because 
the  sori,  or  the  litde  long  heaps  of  sporangia,  are  "generally 
curved,"  according  to  John  Smith ;  or  as  Professor  Eaton 
explains,  "  the  indusia  of  the  areoles  next  the  midrib  are  also 
often  bent  at  an  angle,  and  the  two  pordons  plainly  united." 
This  manner  of  veining — called  in  botany,  venation — has  not 
proved  so  constant  a  character  in  ferns  as  it  was  expected  to 
be  by  those  who  first  perceived  its  importance  In  classificadon. 

In  the  present  instance  we  have  a  plant  so  remarkably  near 
Aspleuium  pimiatifidum,  that  it  is  difficult  for  the  common 
observer  to  see  any  material  difference  till  he  is  told  to  notice 
whether  the  veins  anastomose.  On  this  anastomosing  of  the 
veins,  which  no  morphologist  would  regard  as  of  great  moment, 
our  plant  is  placed  in  a  genus  almost  by  itself.  Professor 
Eaton  is  no  doubt  fully  jusdfied  in  his  remark  that  it  is  by  no 
means  impossible  that  Camptosorus  will  be  again  remanded  to 
Aspleuium,  "  for  it  is  now  pretty  generally  admitted  that  differ- 
ences in  venation  do  not  constitute  valid  generic  distinctions  ;  " 
and  one  might  add  scarcely  specific  differences  either,  for  in 
many  cases  the  individual  plant  varies  in  this  respect.  In  our 
plate   the   frond    (Eig.  4),  a   younger  and   barren   one,  is   much 


68  CAMPTOSORUS    RIIIZOPHVLLUS. WALKING-LEAF. 

more  reticulated,  or  net-veined  than  the  maturer  and  fruitful 
ones  (Fig.  2).  Indeed  it  is  our  experience  that  when  a  frond  is 
abundandy  fruitful,  the  veins  are  often  wholly  free.  It  may  be 
also  remarked  that  in  the  enlarged  drawing  at  p.  75  of  Mr. 
Williamson's  "  Ferns  of  Kentucky,"  the  veins  are  all  wholly 
clear  of  each  other. 

Asplcniuni  pinnatifidiun  is  remarkable  for  it:i  fertility.  Often 
early  formed  and  small  fronds  are  as  completely  covered  with 
sporangia  as  larger  and  more  recent  ones,  and  it  has  little  dispo- 
sition to  make  terminal  buds  ;  while  the  Cainptosoriis  is  compara- 
tively a  sparse-fruidng  fern,  and  makes  up  for  this  by  its  power 
of  increasing  from  terminal  buds  (whence  comes  its  name  7^hizo- 
phyllum).  It  would  be  curious  if  it  should  ultimately  prove  that 
the  one  form  has  been  evolved  from  the  other  by  a  sort  of  dif- 
ference of  opinion,  as  one  might  almost  say,  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  reproduction,  and  that  the  greater  divarication  of  the 
veins  in  the  walking-leaf  (which  is  really  all  the  difference)  is  a 
mere  incident  in  the  reproductive  question. 

The  Camptosorus  under  its  older  names  has  been  long  known 
to  botanists,  having  been  noticed  by  Ray,  Morison,  Plukenet, 
and  others  of  the  early  English  authors  of  the  first  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Gronovius  had  specimens  sent  to  him 
both  by  Clayton  from  Virginia  and  Golden  from  New  York. 
Michaux  found  it  "  not  abundant"  from  "  Ganada  to  Tennessee." 
Dr.  Gray  says  its  home  is  from  "  west  New  England  to  Wiscon- 
sin and  southwards."  The  writer  of  this  has  found  it  abundandy 
on  the  rocks  running  from  east  to  west  across  the  state  in  South- 
ern Illinois,  and  Professor  Lesquereux  found  it  in  Arkansas. 


Explanation  of  the  Plate. — i.  Complete  plant.     2.  Fertile  frond.     3.   Rooting  point  of 
one  frond.     4.   Barren  frond  conspicuously  netted-veined. 


'    POLEMONIUM   REPTANS. 


POLEMONIUM  REPTANS. 
CREEPING   GREEK  VALERIAN. 

NATURAL  ORDER.  POLEMONIACE^E. 


PoLEMONiUM  REPTANS,  LinHDsus. — Smooth  and  succulent;  branched  and  leaning;  leaflets  five 
to  eleven,  usually  seven  to  nine,  mostly  opposite,  the  terminal  one  lance-obovate,  about 
an  inch  long;  common  petiole  half  an  inch  to  two  inches  in  length  below  the  leaflets, 
slightly  winged,  pubescert-ciliate ;  corymbs  few-flowered,  nodding;  corolla  blue,  about 
three  times  as  long  as  the  calyx;  the  lobes  short,  obovate,  rounded.  Capsule  on  a  short 
stipe,  in  the  enlarged,  persistent,  veined,  green,  and  somewhat  membranous  calyx.  (Dar- 
lington's Flora  Cestrica.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United 
States,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.') 


HE  Greek  Valerians,  known  botanically  as  Polcmonhtm, 
form  a  genus  of  great  interest  to  the  American  student, 
having  been  selected  by  Jussieu,  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the 
natural  system  of  Botany,  as  the  type  of  the  natural  order  Pole- 
77ioniacca:.  The  original  Greek  Valerian,  Polcmoniiini  cwj-uleiun, 
is  a  native  of  northern  Europe  and  Asia;  but  it  is  also  indige- 
nous to  our  own  country,  and  by  far  the  greater  bulk  of  the 
whole  order  are  American.  Indeed,  we  may  regard  Polenioniacccr 
as  in  the  main  an  American  order  of  plants.  Botanists  regard 
them  as  somewhat  allied  in  structure  to  the  Bind-weeds  or  Con- 
vohmlacccr — but  they  are  very  different  in  their  aspect.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  have  much  the  general  appearance  of  the 
Hydrophyllaceo'  or  "water-leaf"  family,  but  differ  essentially  in 
placentation,  or  manner  in  which  the  seeds  are  connected  with 
the  ovarium.  In  PolemoniacccE  the  placenta  is  axile,  while  in 
Hydrophyllacece  it  is  central,  in  which  case  the  seeds  do  not  seem 
attached  to  the  sides  of  the  capsule,  but  to  a  soft  mass  in  the 
centre.     The  two  great  genera  of  the  eastern  United  States  are 

(69) 


70  POLEMONIUM    REPTANS. CREEPING    GREEK    VALERIAN. 

Phlox  and  PolcmoJiunn.  Polcnioniiun  is  readily  distinguished 
from  Phlox  by  its  bell-shaped  corolla,  while,  as  is  well  known, 
the  Phlox  has  its  corolla  mainly  as  a  long  slender  tube. 

In  regard  to  the  history  of  the  name,  Polemoniiim,  the  student 
may  have  some  ground  to  complain  of  the  text-books,  as  they 
so  often  have  had  to  complain  in  similar  cases.  A  French  author 
of  the  last  century  says:  "  Pliny  tells  us  that  many  kings  disputed 
the  honor  of  having  found  the  polemonum,  which  gave  to  the 
plant  the  name  of  Polemon,  signifying  war ; "  and  Sir  William  J. 
Hooker  tells  us  that  "  it  was  named  from  polemos,  luar,  accord- 
ing to  Pliny  this  plant  having  caused  a  war  between  two  kings 
who  laid  claim  to  its  discovery."  The  explanations  read 
as  if  "  this  plant,"  Polemonmm  ca^ruleiuu  being  in  question,  was 
the  plant  the  "two"  kings  or  the  "many"  kings  fought  over; 
but  the  plant  is  not  a  native  of  Greece,  nor  is  it  probable  that 
Pliny  had  any  knowledge  whatever  of  "  this  plant,"  and  it  is  much 
better  when  inquiring  why  Tournefort  called  the  plant  Poleuio- 
niinn,  to  say  with  Dr.  Gray  in  the  "  Manual"  "an  ancient  name 
of  doubtful  application."  And  in  his  more  recent  "  Synoptical 
Flora  of  North  America,"  he  even  suggests  that  it  is  more  prob- 
able Tournefort  had  in  his  mind  to  commemorate  Polemon,  the 
celebrated  Athenian  scholar,  who  succeeded  Xenocrates  in  his 
famous  school. 

The  common  name,  Greek  Valerjan,  is  more  easily  traced.  In 
older  times,  when  the  structure  of  plants  was  not  well  under- 
stood, groups  were  formed  according  to  their  external  resem- 
blances. There  is  much  in  the  habit  of  the  genus  to  suggest  the 
Valerian,  and  thus  we  find  them  in  the  writings  of  the  old  botan- 
ists. Doedens,  who  wrote  in  1616,  calls  it  W^leriana  grcrca,  and 
Bauhin,  thirty  years  later,  Valeriana  cwrulca,  though  he  takes 
occasion  to  remark  that  it  "  has  nothing  in  common  with  the 
Valerian,  except  something  in  the  shape  of  the  leaves."  Finally 
taken  from  the  Valerians,  and  given  a  separate  name,  Polejiwniuni, 
by  Tournefort,  we  can  at  least  see  exacdy  how  it  came  by  the 
name  of  Greek  Valerian. 


POLEMONIUM    REPTANS. CREEPING    GREEK    VALERIAN.  7  I 

The  unfortunate  confusion  in  the  name  results,  as  such  seem- 
ingly trifling  mistakes  often  do,  in  errors  of  great  consequence. 
The  true  Valerians  have  great  medical  virtues,  perhaps  great 
enough  to  warrant  ancient  kings  fighting  about  them,  and  thus 
we  find  the  old  Herbalists,  with  Culpeper  leading,  assuring  us 
that  the  "  Greek  Valerian  is  under  Mercury,  and  is  alexipharnic, 
sudorific,  and  cephalic,  and  useful  in  malignant  fevers  and  pesti- 
lential distempers ; "  but  as  soon  as  it  was  proved  not  to  be  a 
Valerian,  it  was  found  that  the  virtues  were  wholly  imaginary. 

Our  species  has  been  long  known  to  botanists,  being  referred 
to  by  Gronovius  in  Clayton's  early  collections  from  Virginia.  It 
differs  from  the  older  known  Poleinonhim  cceruleiim  in  its  creep- 
ing habit,  besides  in  other  characters,  and  this  characteristic 
suggested  the  name  7'cptans,  or  "creeping  Greek  Valerian."  In 
Pennsylvania,  where  it  is  common  in  alluvial  bottoms  along  rivers 
and  water-courses,  it  is  often  called  "Forget-me-not;"  but  as  it 
has  nothing  in  common  with 

"  The  flower  which  has  a  flower  as  bright  as  noon, 
And  leaf  as  delicate  as  softest  satin, 
Called  the  Forget-me-not,  but  known  as  well 
By  twenty  names  I  cannot  stop  to  tell," 

as  Sargent  sings  of  it,  it  would  be  as  well  to  let  it  drop.  "Jacob's 
Ladder"  is  sometimes  used  because  of  its  ladder-like  leaf  It  is 
well  to  refer  to  these  names  in  a  history  of  the  plant ;  but  "  creeping 
Greek  Valerian  "  will  probably  prevail.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest 
of  our  spring  flowers,  and  brightens  with  a  singular  beauty  the 
half-shady  places  wherein  it  loves  to  grow.  Longfellow,  in  his 
beautiful  poem,  "  Flowers,"  scarcely  had  this  plant  in  his  mind 
when  he  wrote — 

"  Everywhere  about  us  are  they  growing, 

Some  like  stars  to  tell  us  Spring  is  come; 

Others,  their  blue  eyes  with  tears  o'erflowing. 

Stand  like  Ruth  among  the  golden  corn  ;  " 

as  the  "  blue  eyes  "  of  our  species  seldom  if  ever  look  at  us  Irom 
grain-fields ;  but  as  we  may  often  see  its  beautiful  sky-blue  flow- 


72  POLEMONIUM    REPTANS. CREEPING    GREEK    VALERIAN. 

ers,  dotted  with  the  pure  white  anthers  growing  along  the  Wis- 
sahickon,  and  telHng  us  that  "  Spring  is  come,"  there  is  a 
something  impressive  which  invariably  associates  them  with 
Longfellow's  lines.  It  is  a  plant  easily  found  by  the  lover  of 
wild  flowers,  as  It  has  a  rather  wide  distribution  in  all  the  states 
east  of  the  Mississippi  except  those  in  the  extreme  north-east, 
and  those  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  creeping  Greek  Valerian  is  a  very  easy  plant  to  cultivate, 
and  indeed  it  is  when  growing  in  the  country  gardens  of  Penn- 
sylvania that  it  generally  receives  the  name  of  "  Forget-me-not." 
A  peculiarity  of  cultivation  is  that  while  the  amount  of  foliage  is 
increased,  there  is  seldom  any  more  increase  in  the  quantity  of 
flow^ers  than  we  find  in  a  wild  state ;  so  that  a  good  strong  stock 
in  its  native  place  of  growth  seems  more  beautiful  than  one 
growing  in  a  garden.  In  cultivation,  however,  we  find  more 
variety  in  the  shades  of  color,  as  they  happen  to  be  selected  by 
those  who  bring  them  in  from  their  wild  locations.  It  is  not 
uncommon  to  find  flowers  of  a  brighter  blue  than  we  have 
selected  for  our  plate.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are  often  seen 
of  a  pure  white.  In  any  condition  the  plant  would  be  regarded 
as  pretty,  and  will  bear  a  strict  scrutiny  in  regard  to  some  claim 
to  beauty.  The  general  tendency  in  the  habit  of  growth  is 
towards  straight,  slender  lines,  without  any  great  variety  in 
length  or  direcdon — but  the  roundish  flowers  make  a  fair  con- 
trast  to  the  straight  lines,  and  the  gentle  curve  caused  by  the 
weight  of  the  flowers  expresses  unity  in  the  general  effect.  Still, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  its  claim  to  be  a  pretty  fiower  lies  chiefiy 
in  the  contrast  which  the  blue  makes  with  the  white  anthers. 


5  4-   VOL.! 


"ff', 


n 


\ 


\ 


CYPRIPEDIUM    PUBESCENS. 
LARGE   YELLOW   MOCCASIN   FLOWER. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  ORCHIDACE/E. 

Cypripedium  PUBESCENS,  Willdenow. — Stem  leafy,  leaves  broad-lanceolate,  acuminate;  sepals 
lanceolate;  lip  shorter  than  the  linear,  twisted  petals,  compressed  laterally,  convex  both 
above  and  below  ;  sterile  stamen  triangular,  acute ;  plant  pubescent.  Stems  usually  sev- 
eral from  the  same  root,  one  foot  or  more  high.  Leaves  three  to  six  inches  long  by  two  to 
three  wide,  many-veined,  clasping  at  the  base.  Flower  mostly  solitary.  Segments  four, 
greenish  with  purple  stripes  and  spots,  the  lower  bifid,  composed  of  two  united  sepals,  the 
lateral  two  to  three  inches  long  by  three  lines  wide,  wavy  and  twisted.  Lip  moccasin- 
shaped,  bright  yellow,  spotted  inside,  with  a  roundish  aperture.  (Wood's  Class-Book  of 
Botany.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States,  and 
Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.) 

HE  large  yellow  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  Moc- 
casin Flowers  ;  and  yet  there  are  interesting-  facts  con- 
nected with  it  that  do  not  seem  to  be  well  known  to  botanists, 
or  at  least  are  not  noted  in  the  descriptions  some  of  them  give. 
These  little  facts,  however,  teach  the  student  some  interesting  les- 
sons, and  it  is  chiefly  because  Professor  Wood  has  noted  some 
of  these  that  we  have  selected  for  our  chapter  the  description 
from  his  work.  For  instance,  we  read  in  most  accounts  of  our 
species  that  the  flowers  are  bright  yellow,  that  the  petals  are  linear 
and  twisted,  and  that  the  lateral  sepals  are  of  such  a  given  width  ; 
and  the  student  is  liable  to  suppose  that  nature  has  an  exact 
character  for  her  species,  whereas  her  limits  are  elastic,  and  we 
may  almost  always  look  for  some  variations  from  even  the  best 
written  descriptions  without  any  ground  for  imagining  we  have 
a  new  species  because  the  plant  in  question  and  the  most 
popular  description  do  not  exactly  correspond.  Our  present 
illustration  of  the  large  yellow  Moccasin  Flower  will  be  found 

(73) 


74     CYPRIPEDIUM    PUBESCENS. LARGE    YELLOW    MOCCASIN    FLOWER. 

to  vary  somewhat  from  many  descriptions,  and  from  some  of 
the  drawings  of  which  there  have  been  quite  a  number  given 
during  the  past  century.  For  instance,  the  sepals — which  are 
the  two  external  portions  forming  the  upward  and  downward 
back  portion  of  the  flower — are  scarcely  wavy,  nor  are  the  two 
narrower  portions  (petals)  in  front,  and  on  each  side  of  the 
"moccasin"  or  lip  ;  again,  the  flower  is  not  "  bright  "  yellow  in  our 
specimen,  and  there  is  a  faint  trace  of  white  on  the  upper  portion 
of  the  "  foot."  The  reader  knows  that  all  these  parts  of  the 
flower  were  originally  designed  by  nature  to  be  ordinary  green 
leaves,  and  that  it  was  only  by  a  subsequent  change  of  plan  that 
she  altered  them  into  sepals,  petals,  and  other  floral  parts  ;  and 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  when  she  goes  to  work  on  this 
change  of  leaves  to  flowers,  she  generally  carries  along  some 
peculiarities  especially  belonging  to  the  leaves.  Now  in  the 
usual  forms  of  the  large  yellow  Moccasin  Flower  which  we 
meet  with,  we  find  the  leaves  very  much  undulated,  botanically 
speaking,  or,  as  we  may  say,  with  wavy  and  twisted  margins  ; 
and  it  is  in  the  cases  where  they  are  the  most  waved  that  we 
have  the  greatest  twisting  of  the  floral  segments.  In  our  speci- 
men, where  we  see  little  twisting  of  these  parts,  we  have  cor- 
respondingly less  waviness  in  the  leaf  margins.  It  is  a  very 
interesting  example  of  the  correspondence  of  character  in  the 
leaves,  and  in  the  floral  parts  which  have  been  made  from  the 
leaves,  though  in  so  many  other  particulars  they  have  been  led 
to  diverge  from  each  other. 

The  large  yellow  Moccasin  Flower  is  very  closely  allied  to  the 
Cypripedmm  Calceolus  of  Europe,  which  gave  the  name  of 
"  Lady  Slipper "  to  the  family  ;  and  by  this  name  the  botanical 
Cypripedium  was  suggested  to  Linnaeus.  Indeed,  the  earlier 
American  botanists  wrote  of  our  plant  as  being  the  same,  and 
as  C.  Calceolus  it  is  referred  to  in  some  of  their  writings.  It 
may,  therefore,  lay  claim  to  a  share  in  whatever  of  popular  his- 
tory relates  to  that  species.  In  the  past  ages,  when  everything 
common  was  invested  with   relis^ious  associations,  we  find  the 


CYPRIPEDIUM    PUI'.ESCENS. LARGE    YELLOW    MOCCASIN    FLOWER.      75 

Lady's  Slipper  written  of  as  "our  Lady's  Slipper,"  and  to  this 
day  the  popular  names  in  France  are  "Sabot  de  la  Vierge  "  and 
"  Soulier  de  Notre  Dame,"  names  having  the  same  signification. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  how  very  much  our  knowledge  of  plants 
has  increased  in  modern  times,  and  especially  our  knowledge 
of  the  structure  of  orchids — the  family  to  which  Cypripedium 
belongs.  One  of  the  earliest  of  American  botanists.  Dr.  Cadwal- 
lader  Golden,  of  New  York,  writing,  about  1744,  to  the  cele- 
brated Gronovius,  remarks  of  Cypripcdimn,  "  two  stamina  seem 
not  sufficient  to  me  to  impregnate  the  great  quantity  of  seed  con- 
tained in  the  capsule."  Now  we  know  that  a  mass  of  pollen  is 
made  up  of  innumerable  grains,  every  one  of  which  is  equal  to 
the  fertilization  of  a  single  ovule.  It  is  believed  that  the 
flowers  can  be  pollenized  only  by  the  aid  of  insects,  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  a  plant  is  rarely  found  which  has  flowered  and 
not  perfected  seed,  and  yet  again  it  is  singular  that  insects  are 
rarely  seen  visiung  the  flowers.  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  who  once  made 
a  special  study  of  these  plants  with  a  view  to  ascertain  their 
relation  to  insects,  notes  that  though  he  found  insect  traces  he 
was  never  able  to  detect  the  insects  actually  at  work.  The 
chapter  of  these  remarkable  circumstances,  however,  is  not  yet 
complete,  for  we  have  to  note  that  the  seeds  are  very  small,  and 
that  an  immense  number  are  produced  in  each  capsule,  while 
notwithstanding  the  trouble  nature  seems  to  have  taken  to 
arrange  that  seed  shall  only  follow  the  visits  of  insects  to  the 
flowers,  scarcely  any  of  these  seeds  grow.  We  may  note  a 
group  of  a  few  dozen  plants  in  any  one  place,  and  for  years 
afterwards,  with  little  increase  in  number  in  all  that  time.  So 
rare  is  it  that  we  have  any  evidence  of  seeds  of  these  plants 
growing  in  their  native  places,  that  Dr.  Jonathan  Stokes,  the 
botanist  of  the  olden  time,  after  whom  our  Stokcsia  is  named, 
was  led  to  exclaim  that  "  Gardeners  might  make  the  botanists 
amends  for  rooting  out  these  rare  wild  plants  in  their  natural 
places  of  growth  and  at  the  same  time  enrich  themselves,  if  they 
would  prove  by  experiment  that  one  at  least  of  the  orchis  tribe 


76     CYPRIPEDIUM    PUBESCENS. LARGE    YELLOW    MOCCASIN    FLOWER. 

could  be  raised  from  seed."  By  very  nice  care  the  tropical 
epiphytal,  or  tree-loving  kinds,  have  been  raised  from  seed — but 
we  believe  Dr.  Stokes'  remarks  have  yet  much  force  so  far  as 
the  natural  growth  of  these  hardy  orchids  from  seeds  is  con- 
cerned. Of  the  large  yellow  Cypripedium  great  numbers  of 
plants  are  annually  shipped  to  Europe  by  dealers,  and  for  want 
of  nature  filling  the  gap  by  new  seedlings,  the  species  is  now 
rarely  found  where  florists  have  a  chance  to  dig  up  the  roots. 

Our  specimen  was  furnished  for  drawing  by  Messrs.  Hoopes 
Bros.  &  Thomas  of  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  who  report 
that  it  was  a  root  received  from  Massachusetts. 

In  Pennsylvania  it  flowers  in  May,  and  grows  in  rather  moist, 
bushy  places,  or  in  open  woods.  Farther  north  it  is  found  as 
late  as  June.  It  is  met  with  in  most  of  the  Northern  States 
as  far  west  as  Minnesota,  and  southward  to  Kentucky  and 
Georeia. 


lEsl  Vol.  I 


dA 


EUPHORBIA    MARGINATA. 

SNOW   ON   THE    MOUNTAIN. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  EUPHORBIACE/F.. 

Eui'HORBlA  MARGINATA,  Pursh. — Leaves  oblong-Lanceolate,  sub-cordate,  sessile,  acute,  mucro- 
nate,  entire  on  the  margin,  glabrous;  umbel  three-rayed,  once  or  twice  dichotomous; 
involucrate  leaves  oblong,  colored  and  membranaceous  at  the  margin  ;  inner  segments  of 
the  floral  involucre  roundish;  capsule  hairy-pubescent.     (Wood's  C/ass-Book  of  Bolaiiy.') 

OME  of  the  plants  now  recognized  as  Euphorbia  were 
also  known  to  the  ancients,  and  references  to  them 
occur  in  some  of  the  oldest  writings  extant.  The  genus  com- 
prises an  immense  number  of  species;  and  yet,  as  intelligent 
men  penetrate  unexplored  portions  of  the  globe,  they  occa- 
sionally find  new  kinds  to  add  to  the  already  large  list.  Great 
numbers  of  them  prefer  hot  and  dry  places,  and  so  as  what  are 
called  the  deserts  of  our  country  became  explored,  and  plants 
not  known  before  were  discovered,  new  Euphorbias  of  all  others 
would  be  likely  to  be  found  among  them.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century  very  litde  was  known  of  the  plants  growing 
beyond  the  Mississippi  or  the  Missouri.  It  was  not  undl  1814 
when  Pursh  issued  in  Uondon  his  work  on  the  "  Flora  of  North 
America,"  that  we  had  any  knowledge  of  the  flowers  of  this  part 
of  our  country,  and  it  is  in  this  work  that  our  present  subject 
was  first  named  and  described.  But  though  the  credit  of  estab- 
lishing the  name  may  be  given  to  Pursh  under  botanical  rules,  it 
does  not  follow  that  he  was  th :  original  collector  of  the  plants 
he  wrote  of.  He  was  never  beyond  the  Mississippi  river,  and 
he  was  indebted  to  the  expedition  of  Uewis  and  Clarke  for 
much  of  his  material.  Some  of  the  dried  specimens  of  this 
expedition  fell   into   his  hands,  and  were  used   by   him   for  his 


78  EUPHORBIA    MARGINATA. SNOW    ON    THE    MOUNTAIN. 

work.  Reference  is  made  to  this  fact  in  order  to  furnish  a 
lesson  in  Botanical  Geography.  The  home,  as  we  may  say,  of 
our  plant  about  fifty  years  ago,  was  in  the  drier  parts  of  our 
country,  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Since  that  time  it  has  progressed  eastward  rapidly,  and  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  at  no  very  distant  date  it  will  be  found 
wild  up  to  the  shores  of  the  AdanUc  Ocean.  Professor  Wood, 
from  whose  "  Class  Book "  we  have  taken  our  description, 
notes,  in  1861,  that  it  was  wild  abundandy  on  the  shores  of  the 
Kentucky  river,  at  Paris,  in  Kentucky  State.  In  1S72,  Pro- 
fessor Bessey  notes,  in  the  "American  Naturalist"  for  that  year, 
that  it  was  then  in  great  abundance  in  west  and  northwestern 
Iowa,  and  Mr.  Arthur  includes  it  now  in  the  regular  catalogue 
of  the  Flora  of  that  state ;  and  in  the  "  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey 
Botanical  Club"  for  1876,  we  find  Mr.  R.  Burgess  noting  that  it 
was  abundant  along  the  Missouri  valley  in  Missouri.  In  regard 
to  Indiana,  nodce  of  its  existence  is  recorded,  so  early  as  1870  in 
the  "  Botanical  Gazette,"  as  abundant  at  Madison  ;  and  the  same 
season  its  first  appearance  at  Logansport  is  recorded  in  the 
same  magazine.  This  shows  how  it  is  marching  on  to  the 
acquisidon  of  more  territory,  and  as  of  course  only  one  plant 
can  exist  on  the  same  spot,  other  species  of  plants  are  eventu- 
ally crowded  out  by  the  intruders.  But  it  is  quite  probable  that 
the  plant  did  not  exist  in  any  great  abundance,  even  in  its 
natural  home,  till  civilized  man  came  to  its  aid.  It  does  not 
flourish  remarkably  well  when  struggling  with  the  regular  flora 
of  the  same  region ;  but  when  the  railroad  was  made  and  the 
earth  in  various  ways  disturbed,  the  plant  appeared  in  such 
abundance,  that  the  untutored  observers  thought  it  must  have 
sprung  from  seed  that  had  lain  in  the  ground  dormant  for  cen- 
turies. But  the  facts  in  these  and  similar  cases  are  that  a  tew 
plants  spring  from  chance  seeds,  and,  being  so  few,  produce 
seeds  unobserved ;  these  seeds  falling  on  soil  just  suited  to 
them  nearly  all  grow,  and  then  by  their  unusually  large  num- 
bers attract  attenUon.     It  has  in   this  way  become   particularly 


EUPHORBIA    MARGINATA. SNOW    ON    THE    MOUNTAIN.  79 

attractive  to  the  traveller  over  these  far  western  railroads,  as  it 
is  in  its  best  dress  only  along  the  lines  where  the  soil  has  been 
disturbed. 

Mr.  James  Vick,  the  well-known  florist,  and  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  flowers,  passing  over  one  of  diese  railroads  across 
Kansas  soon  after  its  opening,  was  struck  by  its  novel  appear- 
ance, and  thus  wrote  home  about  it:  "This  Euphorbia  mar- 
o-inata  is  a  very  pretty  annual,  making  a  plant,  in  the  newly  dis- 
turbed soil,  of  nearly  two  feet  in  height,  and  having  the  appear- 
ance of  a  shrub  or  a  miniature  tree.  The  largest  of  the  leaves 
are  nearly  two  Inches  in  length,  growing  smaller  as  they  approach 
the  tops  of  the  branches.  The  leaves  are  of  a  very  pretty  light 
green,  surrounded  by  a  margin  of  clear  snowy  white,  on  the 
large  leaves  merely  a  line,  becoming  wider  as  the  leaves  get 
smaller,  until  the  smallest  are  nearly  or  quite  pure  white,  as  are 
also  the  flower  bracts.  It  grows  abundandy,  and  is  called  by 
the  people  here  'Snow  on  the  Mountain,'  and  we  thought  this  a 
very  appropriate  name."  The  florist  is  not  alone  in  paying  trib- 
ute to  its  natural  beauty  ;  even  the  botanist  often  pauses  to  express 
his  admiration  of  that  element  in  this  flower,  though  beauty  has 
no  recognized  place  in  his  systems  of  classifications.  Thus  Mr. 
Burgess,  in  the  note  already  referred  to,  speaks  of  the  dazzling 
splendor  of  certain  plants  growing  over  the  "  rarely  carved 
Bluffs,"  among  which  he  especially  notes  our  plant  as  "  strug- 
gling up  the  side,  over  the  summit  at  last!"  The  "Botanical 
Gazette,"  in  speaking  of  its  existence  at  Madison,  Indiana,  says: 
"It  seemed  to  make  its  appearance  quite  suddenly  at  Madison  a 
few  years  ago,  but  is  spreading  with  wonderful  rapidity,  covering 
only  such  hills  and  parts  of  hills  as  have  been  cleared  of  timber, 
and  are  covered  with  sand  or  gravel.  It  ranges  over  many  acres 
of  the  hilly  ground,  and  is  creeping  slowly  to  the  level  ground. 
Its  milky  juice  is  very  abundant,  and  may  some  day  )ield  in  its 
gum,  to  investigating  industry,  an  ample  return  for  its  cultivadon. 
Those  who  have  occasion,  however,  to  handle  it,  had  better  not 
do  so  with  abraded  skin,  and  should  be  careful  not  to  convey  any 


8o  EUPHORBIA    MARGINATA. SNOW    ON   THE    MOUNTAIN. 

to  the  mouth,  as  the  principle  Euphorbin  is  exceedingly  irritating 
in  minute  quantities,  and  may  be  fatal  in  large  portions." 

Since  its  introduction  to  our  gardens  its  singular  beauty  has 
been  recognized  by  florists,  and  it  often  enters  into  the  artistic 
floral  work  known  as  "bedding,"  or  the  growing  of  plants  in 
large  masses  with  regard  to  their  harmonies  of  color.  It  is 
quite  likely  that  in  time  some  varieties  may  be  discovered  which 
will  give  an  increased  floral  interest  to  this  beautiful  plant. 
Even  in  nature  some  variations  from  the  normal  form  are  found 
at  times,  and  a  very  striking  one  is  referred  to  in  Engelmann 
and  Gray's  account  of  Lindheimer's  Texan  collecdons.  This  one 
is  described  as  having  the  broad  white  margin  often  more  or  less 
crisped.  This  variety  they  name  Euphorbia  marginata  variety 
niolcuca,  and  if  its  peculiar  crispy  character  could  be  developed 
it  would  be  highly  prized  by  florists. 


iN^J^ 


^^^^^^^^u^"',^;;: 


A.c^PinfffM    PRAPtRAM.S 


ASPIDIUM    FRAGRANS. 
SWEET   SHIELD-FERN. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    FILICES. 

AspiDiUM  FRAGRANS,  Swartz. — Fronds  four  to  twelve  inches  high,  glandular  and  aromatic,  nar- 
rowly lanceolate,  with  linear-oblong  pinnately-parted  pinnae;  their  crowded  divisions 
oblong,  obtuse,  toothed  or  nearly  entire,  nearly  covered  beneath  with  the  very  large,  thin, 
imbricated  indusia,  which  are  orbicular  with  a  narrow  sinus,  the  margin  sparingly  glandu- 
liferous  and  often  ragged.  (Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  Unitea  States. 
See  also  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany,  and  Eaton's  Ferns  of  North  America.) 

lOME  families  of  plants  are  peculiar  in  their  characters; 
and  the  genera  and  species  have  a  certain  general 
resemblance  to  each  other,  so  that  few  can  be  mistaken  in  their 
relationship.  Thus  those  who  know  little  of  botany  as  a  science 
can  usually  tell  a  fern  when  they  see  it,  and  can  understand  by 
this  what  a  botanist  means  when  he  speaks  of  any  particular 
family  of  plants  as  being  a  very  natural  one. 

From  this  particular  sameness  in  the  general  aspects  of  ferns, 
one  might  suppose  that  litde  could  be  said  of  each  species  in 
detail.  In  common  language  one  might  imagine  that  a  "fern 
was  merely  a  fern,  and  nothing  more  ;  "  but  in  truth  beneath  this 
general  uniformity  of  dress  lies  a  great  variety  of  character,  and 
the  lessons  we  may  derive  from  each  species  are  almost  as 
numerous  as  we  might  gather  from  the  study  of  individual  human 
beings.  We  are  often  told  of  the  lessons  we  may  learn  from 
flowers;  but  the  lessons  from  plants  which  have  no  proper 
flowers,  as  ferns  have  not,  are  no  less  inviting.  In  some  respects 
they  have  advantages  which  flowering  plants  have  not,  for  often 
a  flowering  plant  possesses  but  litde  interest  to  the  average 
botanist  when  it  is  not  in  bloom,  while  the  fern  is  generally  inter- 

6  (S>) 


82  ASPIDIUM    FRAGRANS. SWEET    SIIIELD-FERN. 

esting-  to  him  at  all  seasons,  for  a  fertile  plant  will  frequently  fur- 
nish specimens  "in  fruit"  during-  most  of  the  summer  season, 
and  in  some  cases  long  after  the  wild  woods  have  lost  their 
autumn  foliage,  and  present  in  the  language  of  the  poet  Winter — 

"  Bare,  ruined  choirs  where  late  the  sweet  birds  sang," 

may  the  botanical  inquirer  find  all  he  wants  to  know  in  the 
lingering  fronds  of  some  hardy  fern. 

Our  present  species,  Aspidnim  fragj'ans,  is  particularly  rich  in 
lessons,  both  as  to  its  historical  relationships  and  in  the  many 
points  which  are  essentially  its  own.  Until  comparatively  recent 
times  It  was  supposed  to  be  wholly  an  Old  World  fern.  It  has 
been  long  known  to  European  botanists,  and  was  described  by 
Linnasus  now  much  over  a  century  ago  as  Polypodium  fragrans. 
It  was  first  found  in  the  United  States  by  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry,  the 
botanist  attached  to  Owen's  Geological  Survey  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa 
and  Minnesota  in  1852.  In  the  Report  of  this  Survey,  Dr.  Parry 
says  he  found  this  fern  on  the  Trap  Rocks,  near  the  Falls  of  St. 
Croix,  and  he  remarks  "  the  whole  fern  is  beset  with  fragrant 
olandular  hairs.  It  oi'ows  in  dense  tufts,  in  the  shaded  crevices 
of  trap  rocks,  with  the  withered  remains  of  several  years'  growth 
still  adhering.  The  fronds  are  of  a  deep  green  color  above, 
paler  below,  four  to  nine  inches  high.  The  aroma  is  permanent 
and  agreeable.  I  am  informed  by  Dr.  Torrey  that  this  species 
has  never  before  been  found  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  but  has  been  obtained  In  British  America  and  Kam- 
schatka,  where  It  Is  used  for  making  tea.  In  the  locality  here 
specified,  it  is  quite  abundant."  Since  1852  it  has  been  found  in 
many  other  parts  of  the  Union  bounding  the  Canadian  territory, 
as  for  instance  In  Maine,  Vermont,  New  Hampshire  and  New 
York.  New  locadons  are  occasionally  yet  found  for  it,  and  the 
possibility  of  finding  it  where  It  has  never  been  met  with  before 
gives  zest  to  the  plant  collector  who  may  be  on  botanical  excur- 
sions through  the  Northern  States.  The  natural  situation  where 
it  may  be    found    is  well    suggested    In    the  extract    from    Dr. 


ASnUIUM    FRAGRANS. SWEET    SllIELD-l'ERN.  83 

Parry's  report.  One  of  the  more  recent  discoverers,  INIr.  C.  G. 
Pringle,  who  saw  it  growing-  on  Mount  Mansfield,  X'ermont,  in  a 
letter  to  the  writer  under  date  of  April  13,  1S79,  gives  so  excel- 
lent a  description  of  how  the  plant  appears  in  its  native  home 
that  we  are  tempted  to  quote  it  here :  "  In  the  several  stations 
oiAspidiuni  frao-raus  among  the  Green  Mountains,  which  I  have 
explored,  the  plant  is  always  seen  growing  from  the  crevices  or 
on  the  narrow  shelves  of  dry  cliffs — not  often  such  cliffs  as  are 
exposed  to  the  sunlight,  unless  it  be  on  the  summits  of  the 
mountains,  but  usually  such  cliffs  as  are  shaded  by  firs,  and 
notably  such  as  overhang  mountain  rivulets  and  waterfalls. 
When  I  visit  such  places  in  summer,  the  niches  occupied  by  the 
plants  are  quite  dry.  I  think  it  would  be  fatal  to  the  plant  it 
much  spray  should  fall  on  it  during  the  season  of  its  active 
growth.  When  )ou  enter  the  shade  and  solitude  ot  the  haunts 
of  this  fern  its  presence  is  betrayed  by  its  resinous  odor:  looking 
up  the  face  of  die  cliff,  usually  mottled  with  lichens  and  moss, 
you  see  it  often  far  above  your  reach  hanging  against  the  rock, 
masses  of  dead  brown  fronds,  the  accumulations  of  many  years, 
preserved  by  the  resinous  principle  which  pervades  them ;  for 
the  fronds  as  they  disport  regularly  about  the  elongating  caudex, 
fall  right  and  left  precisely  like  a  woman's  hair.  Above  the 
tuft  of  drooping  dead  fronds  which  radiate  from  the  centre  of 
the  plant,  grow  from  six  to  twenty  green  fronds,  which  represent 
the  growth  of  the  season,  those  of  the  preceding  year  dying 
towards  autunm."  Its  filical  companions  in  this  locality  are 
Cystoptcris  fragilis,  Polypodiiuii  vulgarc,  and   Woodsia  Ilvensis. 

The  observations  of  Dr.  Parry  and  Mr.  Pringle  not  only 
interest  us  in  the  pen-picture  of  the  home  of  our  sweet-scented 
shield-fern,  but  will  be  very  useful  to  those  who  desire  to  cul- 
tivate it.  It  has  been  under  culture  in  English  gardens  since 
1820,  and  is  still  popular  with  the  hardy  fern  growers  there,  not- 
withstanding the  influx  of  new  favorites.  A  writer  on  hardy 
cultivated  ferns  in  the  Gardener  s  CJironiclc  for  February  8,  1879, 
says  it  is  regarded  there  as  "a  charming  little  species,  very  sweet- 


84  ASriDIUM    FRAGRANS. SWEET    SHIELD-FERN. 

scented.  Planted  in  a  select  position  it  will  do  very  well 
indeed." 

The  tea  made  from  the  leaves  is  referred  to  by  vi  rious  authors 
as  very  agreeable,  and  Professor  Eaton  says  some  writers  have 
compared  the  fragrance  of  the  plant  to  that  of  raspberries. 

Our  space  will  not  permit  of  an  extended  analysis  ot  its  more 
purely  botanical  points  of  interest.  From  Polypodu.,ii  fragrans 
it  was  made  Aspidhini  fi-agraus  by  Swartz  in  1771  ,  and  this  is 
generally  followed  by  American  authors,  though  it  will  be  found 
as  Lastrcca  fragrans  in  most  English  works.  Various  authors 
speak  of  it  as  A^cphroduuu,  or  PolysticJmnt.  It  varies  much  in 
the  forms  and  characters  of  its  fronds,  as  indeed  we  must  pre- 
pare ourselves  to  expect  with  most  species  of  ferns.  hi 
specimens  before  us  from  Alaska  collected  by  W.  W.  Harrington 
on  Ball's  exploring  expedition  of  1871  and  1872,  the  main 
rachis  and  those  of  the  divisions  of  the  frond  are  slender  and 
hair-like,  while  Wisconsin  specimens  of  Hale  and  Lapham  have  a 
very  coarse  and  heavy  look.  Our  illustration  from  a  specimen 
growing  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Jackson  Dawson,  of  the  Arnold 
Arboretum,  Mass.,  shows  a  fair  average  form. 

Exri.ANATiONS  OF  THE  Platr. — I.  A  plant  divested  of  its  old  nest-like  leaves.  2.  A  pinnule 
very  much  enlarged.  3.  Portion  of  the  under  side  of  a  pinnule,  showing  the  remark- 
ably scaly  rachis.  4.  A  lolie  very  much  enlarged,  showing  the  iudusium  as  well  charac- 
terized in  Dr.  Gray's  description,  and  also  the  resinous  dots. 


Erigeron  bellidifolium.  \ 


ERICxERON    BELLIDIFOLIUM. 
POOR    ROBIN'S    PLANTAIN. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    COMPOSIT/E. 


Erigeron  BELLIDIFOLIUM,  Muhlenberg. — Rays  crowded  and  rather  conspicuous;  purplish. 
Plant  hoary-villous;  stem  simple  and  few-leaved;  leaves  spatulate  and  lance-oblong;  heads 
large,  few,  corymbose ;  rays  broadish.  Perennial;  stoloniferous.  Stem  nine  to  eighteen 
inches  high.  Radical  leaves  one  to  three  inches  long,  spatulate  and  obovate,  contracted  to 
a  margined  petiole;  stem  leaves  sub-serrate;  the  upper  ones  entire  or  denticulate,  some- 
what clasping.  Heads  of  flowers  two  to  three,  or  five  (rarely  seven  or  nine)  in  a  loose 
terminal  corymb, — the  lower  peduncles  axillary,  long  and  flaccid;  rays  pale  bluish-purple; 
achenes  smooth.  (Darlington's  Flora  Cestrica.  See  also  Gray's  Flora  of  the  Northern 
United  States,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Wood's  Class- Book  of 
Botany. ) 


R.  DARLINGTON,  from  whose  work  we  have  taken  our 
description,  the  drawnigs  being  made  from  a  Pennsyl- 
vania plant  growing  near  to  where  he  wrote,  gives  "  Flea-bane"  as 
one  of  the  common  names  of  the  genus,  and  so  do  most  of  our 
Botanical  Text-books  ;  while  some  authors  speak  of  our  plant  as 
the  "  Daisy-leaved  "  and  "Early-flowering"  Flea-bane.  The  plant, 
however,  has  very  little  relation  to  the  true  Flea-bane;  and  in 
examining  the  reasons  for  the  appellation,  we  learn  a  valuable 
lesson  as  to  the  making  and  perpetuation  of  errors,  when  the 
care  to  be  strictly  accurate  which  we  endeavor  to  exercise  in 
preparing  "  The  Native  Flowers  and  Ferns "  is  not  taken. 
Green  tells  us  that  the  name  of  Blue  Flea-bane  was  unfortu- 
nately given  to  the  Erigcroii  acre  by  "  some  English  botanists, 
which  thus  tends  to  conf6und  it  with  Conyza."  And  of  Conyza 
sqitamosa  the  old  herbalists  say,  "the  juice  of  the  whole  plant 
cures  the  itch,  by  external  application,  and  the  very  smell  of 
the  herb  is  said  to  destroy  fleas."      Both  of  these  are  luiropean 


86  ERIGERON    BELLIDIFOLIUM. POOR    ROBINS    PLANTAIN, 

plants.  We  see  that  the  mere  accident  of  some  general  appear- 
ance in  the  flower  led  some  botanists  into  calling  that  species 
"  Blue  Flea-bane  ;"  and  our  botanists,  with  far  less  excuse,  left 
the  "  Blue  "  off,  and  gave  the  common  name  of  the  Coiiyza,  Flea- 
bane,  to  the  whole  genus  Erigcron.  So  far  as  the  writer  of 
this  can  learn,  the  name  of  "  Flea-bane "  was  never  used  by 
the  people  of  the  United  States  for  these  plants  until  it  was 
employed  in  botanical  works,  and  very  rarely  if  at  all  now, 
which  renders  the  introduction  of  the  misleading  name  into  our 
literature  the  more  unpardonable.  Even  the  common  name 
for  this  species,  "Poor  Robin's  Plantain,"  has  been  modified 
by  botanists  in  various  ways.  Sims,  in  the  "  Botanical  Magazine," 
many  years  ago,  figured  it,  and  says :  "  It  grows  from  North 
Carolina  to  Canada,  where  it  is  known  as  'Poor  Robin's 
Plantain.'"  Dr.  Gray,  in  "School  Botany,"  cuts  it  down  to 
"Robin's  Plantain,"  Prof.  Wood  to  "Robins'  Plantain,"  and  Dr. 
Darlington  "Poor  Robert's  Plantain."  The  origin  of  the  com- 
mon name  is  not  clear;  but  if  ever  the  occasion  should  arise 
to  make  an  investigation  important,  the  student  would  prob- 
ably be  misled  by  these  careless  alterations  in  the  orthography 
of  the  names. 

The  specific  name,  bdlidifoliiim,  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Muh- 
lenberg in  a  letter  to  Willdenow,  who  adopted  It  in  the  de- 
scription of  the  plant  in  his  "  Species  Plantarum."  It  signifies 
having  a  leaf  like  the  BclHs  peirnnis  or  English  daisy,  though 
there  is  no  very  close  resemblance.  The  best  that  can  be  said 
is  that  it  is  perhaps  more  nearly  like  the  leaf  of  that  popular 
English  flower  than  the  leaves  of  other  species  are.  A 
peculiarity  of  the  genus  Erigcrou  is  to  have  a  large  number  of 
ray  florets,  and  in  this  respect  the  whole  family  has  a  resemblance 
to  the  daisy,  and  our  present  species  may  carry  the  association 
closer  to  this  great  national  favorite,  because  like  it  the  earliest 
spring  meets  its  opening  flowers.  It  is  the  first  of  all  the  Ameri- 
can Erigcroiis  to  bloom.  We  may  say  of  it  as  Burns  said  to  his 
"  Mountain  daisy: " 


ERIGEKON    BELLIDIFOLIUM. TOOK    ROIUN's    I'LANTAIN.  8/ 

"  Cold  l)lew  Ihe  bitlcr-biting  north 
Upon  thy  humble  birth  ; 
Yet  cheerfully  thou  ventuiest  forth 
Amid  the  storm, 
Scarce  reared  above  the  earth 
Thy  tender  form." 

The  writer  has  gathered  flowers  of  this  daisy-Hkc  species 
among  the  snow  in  a  late  spring.  The  generic  name,  Erigeron, 
according  to  Milne,  is  "  from  cr,  the  spring,  and  gcron,  the  Greek 
name  for  senccio  ;  that  is,  a  senecio  which  flowers  in  sprincr."  It 
may  be  observed  that  geron  really  means  an  old  man.  as  its  Lat- 
inized form  senccio  does — from  scncx,  old, — and  this  is  in  allusion 
to  the  copious  white  pappus  often  in  globose  masses  like  a  head 
of  white  silken  hair.  But  Erigcrons  do  not  all  bloom  in  spring. 
There  is  another  species,  Erigeroji  PhiladelpJiiciim,  which  is  \-cry 
closely  allied  to  this,  one  of  the  chief  differences  being  that  while 
our  present  subject  is  often  in  bloom  by  the  end  of  April,  and  is 
rarely  found  in  blossom  after  June,  the  E.  PhiladclpJiiciini  does 
not  commence  to  open  its  flowers  till  June,  and  often  continues 
till  August  at  least  in  Pennsylvania.  The  creeping  runners  or 
stolons  (Fig.  3)  also  distinguish  this  species,  the  E.  Philadcl- 
pJiicinn  always  having  a  tufted  root  stock.  While  on  this  sub- 
ject of  botanical  differences,  it  may  be  noted  that  in  many 
genera  of  composite  plants  it  is  very  easy  to  distinguish  one  from 
another  by  something  in  its  aspect  which  is  very  hard  to  define 
in  words.  The  practised  collector  can  almost  always  tell  an 
Erigcroii  when  he  meets  with  it  for  the  first  time,  the  ver)-  large 
number  of  ray  florets  being  in  a  great  measure  a  character- 
istic. Yet  the  botanist,  when  he  comes  to  analyze  the  struc- 
ture closely,  finds  it  difficult  to  tell  how  to  distinguish  it  from  an 
Aster,  a  Diplopappiis  or  some  of  the  other  neighboring  genera. 
Some  of  the  species,  indeed,  have  a  double  pappus,  as  in  the  last- 
named  genus,  especially  those  which  bloom  in  the  fall  season, 
about  the  time  when  Diplopappus  is  generally  found,  and  in  these 
cases  the  appendages  of  the  style,  shorter  and  blunter  than  in 
Diplopapp7is,  form  all  beyond  the  ''popular  aspect"  that  is  relied 


88  ERIGERON    BELLIDIFOLIUM. POOR    ROBINS    PLANTAIN. 

on  to  distinguish  it.  There  are  numerous  species  in  the  United 
States,  abounding  chiefly  in  the  higher  regions,  but  the  popular 
aspect  referred  to  characterizes  them  all.  Our  species  is  one  of 
the  most  frequendy  met  with  in  the  Eastern  States. 

It  is  not  particularly  confined  to  open  meadows,  though  often 
found  there. 

"  But  this  bold  floweret  climbs  the  hill, 
Hides  in  the  forest,  haunts  the  glen, 
Plays  on  the  margin  of  the  rill, 
Peeps  round  the  fox's  den  "  — 

as  Montgomery  says  of  its  celebrated  English  ally.  It  is 
almost  impossible  for  the  average  collector  to  make  very  exten- 
sive journeys  in  spring  time  without  meeting  it.  Very  often  it 
forms  thick  patches  many  yards  in  extent,  keeping  down  most 
other  vegetation,  by  its  creeping  stems — and  then  its  bluish-pur- 
ple flowers  give  a  peculiar  feature  to  the  spring  vegetation  even 
when  seen  from  long  distances. 

Beyond  Its  spring  beauty — though  that  is  no  mean  element  of 
usefulness — the  "  Poor  Robin's  Plantain"  has  not  made  for  itself 
much  of  a  name  in  the  service  of  man.  Rafinesque,  one  of  the 
most  industrious  authors  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century, 
gives  a  special  chapter  to  the  medical  virtues  of  the  E.  Philadel- 
phiciun,  and  seems  to  include  our  species,  which  he  calls  "  the 
Daisy  Flea-bane,  a  Vernal  Vernil,"  amongst  others,  when  he  says: 
"They  were  known  to  the  Northern  Indians  by  the  name  of 
Cocash  or  Squaw-weed  as  menagogue'  and  diuretics."  As  a 
styptic  he  thinks  "they  have  saved  many  lives."  It  is  extremely 
useful  when  applied  to  wounds  and  tumors. 


Exi'LANATiONS  OF  THP:  PLATE. — I.   A  plant  from   Pennsylvania  taken  in  May.     2.  Upper  por- 
tion of  flower  stalk.     3.   Runners  which  later  in   the  season  form  new  plants  at  their  ends. 


^ 


iv 


PlNGUlCULA  LUTEA. 

L.  Prang  Ik  Company,  Boston  . 


PINGUICULA    LUTEA. 
YELLOW  BUTTERWORT 

NATURAL  ORDER,  LENTIBULARIACE.E, 


PiNGUicuLA  LUTEA,  Walter. — Leaves  from  ovate  to  oblong-ovate,  an  inch  or  two  long;  scapes 
five  to  twelve  inches  high ;  corolla  an  inch  or  less  long ;  the  lobes  longer  than  the  short- 
cnmpanulate  tube  with  the  saccate  base,  all  or  the  lower  and  lateral  usually  t'our-lobed  or 
two-cleft  with  the  divisions  obcordate,  or  variously  sinuate  :  spur  subulate,  as  long  as  the 
sac  and  tube;  palate  oblong,  very  salient,  densely  bearded.  (Gray's  Synoptical  Flora 
of  North  America.  See'  also  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany,  and  Chapman's  Flora  of 
the  Sottthern  United  States.) 


T  is  always  interesting  to  know  the  origin  of  names,  and 
their  meaning ;  not  so  much  because  it  is  any  great 
guide  to  the  knowledge  of  the  plant  itself,  as  that  it  keeps  us 
from  error,  and  this  is  equal  to  knowledge.  In  connection  with 
our  present  subject  we  may  note  that  the  long  known  species  of 
Europe,  Piiigiiiadazmlgaris,  among  its  numerous  English  names 
was  known  as  the  "Yorkshire  Sanicle ;  "  and,  misguided  by  this 
name,  a  popular  English  medical  work  of  the  last  century — the 
"Botanalogia"  by  Salmon — figures  the  Sauicula  Europo'a  for  the 
true  "  Butterwort"  which  is  the  old  Piiiguicula.  It  is  possible 
that  there  may  be  a  similar  misconception  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  generic  name  Pinguiada.  All  our  text-books  tell  us  that  it 
is  from  pingiiis,  Latin  for  fat,  "  the  leaves  being  mostly  greasy  to 
the  touch,  whence  the  name."  But  there  is  nothing  particularly 
greasy  in  the  appearance  or  feel  of  the  European  Butterwort 
more  than  in  other  familiar  plants  to  suggest  to  the  common 
people  any  such  special  name  for  it. 

The  botanical  name,  Pinguiciila,  seems  to  have  been  first  used 
by  Conrad  Gesner,  of  Zurich,  in  Switzerland,  who  published  in 


90  PINGUICULA    LUTE  A. YELLOW    BUTTE  RWOKT. 

Basil,  in  1541,  a  history  of  plants.  It  had  long-  been  known  as 
"  Butterwort "  by  the  English,  and  it  would  be  quite  natural  for 
the  common  name  to  suggest  the  botanical  one,  and  "  Pingui- 
cula  "  would  regularly  follow.  But  "Butterwort"  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  derived  from  the  greasy  feel  of  the  leaves,  but 
from  the  power  possessed  by  the  plant  of  rapidly  turning  cream 
into  butter.  Linneeus  observed  that  the  soft  white  hair  which 
covered  the  leaf  secreted  a  olutinous  fluid.  These  olutinous 
leaves  were  put  by  the  inhabitants  of  northern  Europe  into  a 
sieve,  and  then  the  fresh  milk  of  the  reindeer  passed  through, 
and  in  a  day  or  so  afterwards  it  became  a  firm  buttery  mass. 
This  butter  was  a  popular  article  of  diet  with  the  Swedes,  and  it 
is  as  fair  a  deduction  that  a  plant  which  actually  made  butter, 
should  thereby  earn  the  name  of "  butterwort,"  or  butterplant, 
as  that  it  comes  from  the  leaves  having  a  greasy  feel  which  might 
suggest  any  oily,  greasy  feel,  as  well  as  that  derived  from  butter. 
Moreover,  old  Gerarde,  one  of  the  earliest  writers  on  English 
gardening,  calls  the  plant  "Butter-root,"  which  he  would  scarcely 
do,  if  the  "butter"  was  simply  in  relation  to  the  greasy  feel  of 
the  leaves.  As  a  rule,  it  would  be  just  as  well  if  names  meant 
nothing ;  but  when  they  are  supposed  to  be  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  plant,  it  becomes  important  that  the  history  should 
be  scrupulously  correct.  It  may  be  noted  here  that  Gesner 
supposed  the  European  Pinguicula  was  the  plant  referred  to  by 
Pliny  as  Dodecatheon,  but  this  name  was  subsequently  transferred 
by  Linnaeus  to  an  American  genus  of  plants  having  little  relation 
to  this. 

Pinguicula  has  become  a  plant  of  more  than  usual  interest 
since  Mr.  Darwin  discovered  that  the  acrid  excretion  of  the 
leaves  catches  insects  and  in  a  manner  digests  them.  Besides 
that,  a  considerable  amount  of  motion  is  exercised  by  the  leaves 
when  catchino-  insects.  JNIr.  Darwin  nodced  that  the  Q-lands 
secreted  much  more  freely  when  excited  by  touch;  and  the  leaves 
which  had  the  glands  the  most  sensitive  in  this  respect  were 
those  which  exhibited  the  most  motion.    The  modon  is,  however, 


riNGUICULA    LUTEA. YELLOW    RUTTERWORT.  9  I 

very  slow.  It  is  simply  the  incurving-  of  the  leaf  over  the  insects, 
seeds,  or  other  objects  caught ;  and  occupied  about  fifteen  hours 
under  Mr.  Darwin's  observation.  It  thus  appears  that  the 
motion  has  no  direct  relation  to  insect-catching,  for  they  are 
caught  and  held  long  before  by  the  viscid  glands ;  but  Mr. 
Darwin  found  that  the  greater  the  number  of  glands  that 
could  apply  their  secretions  to  the  insects  caught,  the  more 
rapidly  did  digestion  go  on,  and  this  motion,  therefore,  appears 
rather  as  an  aid  in  nutrition  than  as  a  mere  insect-catching 
power  as  in  some  plants.  Mr.  Darwin  closes  a  lengthy  but 
highly  interesting  paper  on  his  experiences  with  the  common 
Pingnicitla  by  remarking,  "  we  may  therefore  conclude  that  with 
its  small  roots  it  is  not  only  supported  to  a  large  extent  by  the 
extraordinary  number  of  insects  which  it  habitually  captures,  but 
likewise  draws  some  nourishment  from  the  pollen,  leaves,  and 
seeds  of  other  plants,  which  often  adhere  to  its  leaves.  It  is 
therefore  partly  a  vegetable  as  well  as  an  animal  feeder."  It  is 
well  worth  while  to  inform  ourselves  of  these  wonderful  dis- 
coveries of  Mr.  Darwin  in  connection  with  the  old  world  plants, 
because  it  is  more  than  likely  that  some  highly  interesting  obser- 
vations may  be  made  on  other  species,  of  which  there  are  some 
half  a  dozen  natives  of  the  United  States,  and  especially  on  the 
one  we  have  now  before  us,  the  "  Yellow  Butterwort."  Its 
leaves  are  also  clammy-pubescent;  and,  as  willbe  seen  by  our 
plate,  it  has  the  remarkably  disproportionate  roots  to  leaves  so 
specially  noted  by  Mr.  Darwin  as  a  reason  why  the  leaves 
should  aid  in  the  direct  nutrition  of  the  plant.  In  this  way  it 
may  yet  make  a  history  for  itself,  towards  which,  so  far,  it  has 
done  litde.  All  that  it  has  yet  contributed  is  the  fact,  that  it  is 
one  of  the  pretty  spring-flowers  which  give  such  a  charm  to  the 
early  season  of  the  southern  United  States.  Mr.  A.  P.  Garber 
tells  us  in  a  sketch  of  early  southern  flowers,  in  the  first  volume 
of  the  "  Botanical  Gazette,"  that  it  was  one  of  the  first  that 
greeted  him  on  landing  at  Palatka,  Florida,  on  the  i6th  of  Feb- 
ruary ;  and  Mrs.   Mary  Treat,  to  whom,  through  Professor  Sar- 


92  FINGUICULA    LUTEA. YELLOW    LUTTERWORT. 

gent,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  we  are  indebted  for  the  specimen 
from  which  our  drawing  was  made,  reports  that  it  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  early  floral  attractions  of  that  State.  Other 
observers  from  further  northward  report  that  it  often  grows  in 
immense  patches  in  rather  sandy  places,  especially  in  the  Pine 
barrens,  where,  in  March,  it  forms  brilliant  golden  sheets  of 
bloom.  Its  favorite  situation  seems  to  be  in  locations  rather 
damp  than  dry. 

To  botanists  it  is  an  old  acquaintance,  having  been  noted  by 
Walter,  who  published  a  "  Flora  of  Carolina,"  in  1788.  Lamarck, 
in  1792,  named  it  Piiiguimla  canipaiuilata,  but  the  prior  name  of 
Walter's,  under  botanical  rules,  is  the  accepted  one.  Beyond 
this  it  has  no  synonyms  of  importance,  though  Professor  Gray 
notes  that  it  probably  has  some  varieties. 

The  natural  order  to  which  it  belongs,  Lentibulai'iacecE,  is  a 
very  small  one,  containing  scarcely  half  a  dozen  genera,  of  which 
Utricidaria  and  our  present  genus  constitute  the  most  important 
representatives.  The  name  LcntibidariacecE  is  derived  from 
what  was  once  the  genus  Lentibidaria,  but  which  has  since 
been  absorbed  by  Utricidaria,  the  well-known  and  curious 
"  Bladderwort." 

Our  artist  has  presented  the  flowers  in  so  many  aspects  that  a 
detailed  explanation  is  scarcely  necessary.  Fig.  2  shows  the 
two-lipped  character  of  the  calyx  when  divested  of  the  corolla, 
but  this  also  appears  from  the  back  view  of  one  of  the  expanded 
flowers. 


.NEMONE  VlRGINICA 


ANEMONE    VIRGINIANA. 

TALL   ANEMONE.— THIMBLE-WEED. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  RANUNCULACE.E. 


Anemone  Virginiana,  L. — Hairy;  principal  involucre  three-leaved,  the  leaves  long-pelioled, 
three-parted;  their  divisions  ovate-lanceolate,  pointed,  cut-serrate,  the  lateral  two-parted, 
the  middle  three-cleft;  peduncles  elongated,  the  earliest  naked,  the  others  with  a  two- 
leaved  involucel  at  the  middle;  sepals  five,  acute,  greenish,  in  one  variety  white  and 
obtuse;  head  of  i'ruit  oval  or  oblong.  (Gray's  ]\Iaminl  of  the  Botany  cf  the  A^orthein 
United  Stales.  See  also  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southeni  United  States,  and  Wood's 
Class- Book  of  Botany.) 


T  is  scarcely  possible  to  have  an  Ancinonc  brought  to  our 
notice,  but  the  many  poetical  and  other  pleasant  asso- 
ciations which  have  been  connected  with  it  through  so  many 
ages  crowd  themselves  on  our  attention.  A  large  volume  might 
be  devoted  wholly  to  the  polite  history  of  the  Anemone.  All  we 
can  do  in  a  few  pages  like  ours  is  to  refer  to  some  of  the  most 
prominent  circumstances  that  have  been  connected  with  the 
family.  Few  would  believe  that  any  of  the  pretty  species  which 
form  the  genus,  and  which  have  had  so  many  pleasant  stories 
founded  on  their  innocent-looking  little  flowers,  ever  were  in  ill- 
favor  with  mankind ;  and  yet  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Eastern 
Europe  believed  that  the  wind  was  poisoned  by  passing  over  a 
field  of  Anemones,  and  that  severe  maladies  followed  those  who 
had  to  breathe  in  this  poisoned  atmosphere;  and  this  belief 
exists  among  the  common  people  of  those  lands  even  down  to 
our  time.  F.or  this  reason  the  Persians  have  taken  an  Anemone 
to  be  the  emblem  of  sickness,  yet  few  of  those  who  write  of  the 
"  language  of  flowers "  know  how  the  association  originated. 
The  Romans  appear  to  have  had  some  such  an  idea,  but  believed 

'93) 


94  ANEMONE    VIRGINIANA. TIIIMBLE-WEED. 

they  had  the  power  to  propitiate  the  evil  spirit  ruHng  the 
Anemone.  Hence,  the  first  Anemones  of  the  year  were  eagerly 
looked  for,  and  were  gathered  with  spell-words  and  ceremonies, 
and  after  such  propitiations  the  flower  was  supposed  to  be  a 
special  safeguard  against  malarious  diseases  and  pestilences. 

However,  almost,  if  not  all,  that  appears  in  either  ancient  or 
modern  history  of  the  Anemone,  refers  to  some  early  spring 
flowering  kind  ;  while  the  one  we  now  have  before  us  is  rather 
the  child  of  summer,  for  it  commences  to  bloom  in  June,  and 
continues  till  August. 

An  anonymous  poet  tells  us  that, 

"  Thickly  strewn  in  woodland  bowers, 
Anemones  their  Stars  unfold." 

But  again,  in  situation  as  in  blooming  time,  this  does  not  refer 
to  our  present  species,  for  it  does  not  bloom  in  shaded  places, 
but  along  fences  and  the  borders  of  woods  where  it  can  receive 
the  protection  of  some  dry  leaves  for  its  roots  during  the  winter 
season,  and  yet  have  the  advantage  of  the  full  sunlight  for  its 
leaves  and  flowers.  To  those  who  admire  floral  nature,  it 
seldom  appears  as  a  very  remarkable  element  in  the  beauty 
of  the  scene,  for  it  lacks  the  gay  colors  which  usually  attract 
us.  Indeed  it  seems  litde  more  than  an  ordinary  coarse 
weed.  Yet  few  go  out  to  collect  wild  flowers  in  the  places  where 
this  may  be  found  without  having  it  among  their  trophies,  and 
this  alone  shows  that  there  is  something  about  it  worthy  of 
thought,  if  not  of  admiration.  And  there  is,  indeed  ;  for  some 
very  valuable  botanical  lessons  may  be  derived  from  it. 

In  many  Anemones  the  leaves  on  the  stems  have  been  so 
altered,  that  they  scarcely  look  like  leaves.  In  some  instances 
they  are  drawn  so  close  to  the  flower  that,  in  their  altered 
condition,  they  appear  like  parts  of  the  inflorescence  and  are 
regarded  as  involucres,  which  may  be  considered  a  part  of  the 
floral  envelope,  a  grade  lower  than  a  calyx.  So  much  changed 
from   true  leaves    have   been    the    involucres    of  man)'   of  the 


ANEMONE    VIRGINIANA. THIMRLE-WEED. 


95 


European  forms,  that  disquisitions  on  their  real  nature  have  been 
made  by  distinguished  botanists.  In  the  "  Journal  of  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Linnaean  Society,  of  London,"  for  i860,  Mr.  Georcre 
Bentham  suggests  that  the  involucre  of  Anemone  was,  originally, 
but  a  single  leaf  clasping  the  stem  ;  and  Professor  Asa  Gray  takes 
occasion  in  "  Silliman's  Journal,"  of  May,  in  that  year,  to  show 
from  the  well-developed  involucral  leaves  oi  Anemone  Virginiana, 
here  illustrated,  what  their  real  nature  Is. 

But  we  may  pursue  our  studies  further  In  the  same  direction. 
We  may  learn  from  our  present  species,  how  closely  related  all 
the  parts  of  a  plant  are,  and  see  very  easily  how  one  part  is 
transformed  from  another  part.  We  must  Imagine  first  that  our 
plant  may  have  had  a  branching  character  to  a  much  greater 
extent  than  it  possesses  now.  The  five  petals  may  have  been 
leaves  just  as  fully  developed  as  the  three  "Involucral"  leaves  In 
our  plate  but  for  a  greater  arresting  power  of  development  at 
that  point,  in  which  case  the  central  portion,  now  stamens  and 
pistils,  would  have  been  extended  to  another  flower-stem,  and 
there  would  have  been  five  axillary  buds  at  the  base  of  each  of 
these  five  involucral  leaves.  Just  this  process  has  occurred  as 
we  can  trace  in  the  picture  ;  except  there  were  but  three  axillary 
buds  there,  and  but  three  leaves.  In  the  arrestadon  of  the 
central  stem,  the  three  axillary  buds  were  not  transformed,  but 
made  an  attempt  to  develop  Into  branches,  only  again  to  be 
arrested  by  the  reproductive  force.  In  this  case  the  whole 
growth  is  weakened,  and  we  see  was  not  powerful  enough  to 
take  more  than  two  nodes  into  Its  rhythmic  grasp,  making  but 
two  involucral  leaves, — and  these  again  so  weak  that  no  further 
axial  buds  could  be  developed.  We  gather,  therefore,  that  very 
slight  variations  of  the  rhythmic  force  connected  with  the  laws 
of  acceleration  and  retardation  make  all  the  differences  In  struc- 
ture; and  we  can  understand  how  very  easily  one  form  or 
species  may  be  evolved  from  another  one.  Indeed,  we  often 
meet  with  variations  In  the  normal  growdi  of  our  present  species 
which   want    nothing     but    permanence    to    be    regarded    good 


96  ANEMONE    VIKGINIANA. TIIIM15LE-WEED. 

Specific  characters.  On  one  occasion,  the  writer  found  a  specimen 
in  which  the  central  flower  was  stalkless,  or  sessile.  In  this  case 
it  had  but  three  petals,  and  these  were  protruded  between  the 
three  flower-stalks  growing  from  the  flow'er's  base,  and  which,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  are  transformed  branches  from  three  axil- 
lary buds.  By  this  lesson  we  can  comprehend  why  the  middle 
stalk  has  no  leaves,  or  involucels,  as  the  three  laterals  have.  If 
it  were  to  have  them,  they  w^ould  have  to  be  formed  of  the  five 
leaves  now  used  to  make  the  sepals. 

Lesquereaux  tells  us  that  in  Arkansas  the  species  is  knowm  as 
"Tall  Anemone,"  and  this  indeed  is  a  very  characteristic  name; 
the  plant  growing  in  many  cases  from  two  to  three  feet  high. 
Darby  says  in  his  "  Botany  of  the  Southern  States,"  that  in  that 
section  of  the  country  it  is  known  as  "Thimble-weed,"  the  name 
obviously  derived  from  its  almost  mature  head,  which,  in  many 
cases,  has  a  very  thimble-like  appearance  both  in  form  and 
marking. 

It  is  found  somewhat  frequently  in  most  of  the  eastern  part 
of  our  territory,  from  Canada  to  South  Carolina,  being,  however, 
most  at  home  in  the  northern  latitudes,  where  it  has  travelled 
completely  across  the  condnent.  The  color  as  usually  seen  is 
greenish;  but  forms  have  been  found  with  pure  white  flowers, 
and  a  judicious  selection  might  reward  the  florist  with  showy 
improvements. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  Upper  portion  of  a  flower-stnlk,  made  from  a  Pennsyl- 
vania specimen  in  July.  2.  The  central  branch  arrested  to  form  a  flower-stalk  with  its 
naked  peduncle.  3.  Axillary  branches,  finally  bearing  each  a  weaker  flower-stalk.  4. 
Axillary  leaves,  transformed  to  involucre  and  involucel.  5.  Longitudinal  section  showing 
the  receptacle,  with  carpels  attached. 


jO   a.     YULi.  1. 


rVrt?U  AKFPRT?Q      A/POTTH'^A 


CHEILANTHES    VESTITA. 
HAIRY    LIP-FERN. 

NATURAL   ORDER,   PILICES. 

CHEILANTHES  VESTITA,  Swartz. — Fronds  broadly  lanceolate,  like  the  stalks  hirsute  with  rusty 
hairs,  bipinnate;  pinnae  triangular-ovate;  pinnules  oblong,  obtuse,  more  or  less  incised; 
the  ends  of  the  lobes  reflexed  to  form  separate  herbaceous  involucres.  Fronds  four  to 
eight  inches  long,  l^ecoming  smooth  above.  (Chapman's  J^/o7-a  0/ //w  Sotitltern  United 
States.  See  also  Wood's  Class-Bool-  0/  Botany, (^\a.y'?,  Flora  of  the  Northern  United  States, 
Eaton's  Ferns  of  North  America,  and  Williamson's  Ferns  of  Kentucky.) 

ERNS  have  no  small  part  of  the  world  allotted  to  them. 
Though  but  a  fraction  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  they 
share  every  portion  of  it  with  flowering  plants.  There  is  no 
spot,  however  rocky  and  dry,  but  some  ferns  may  be  found  as 
well  as  where  the  soil  is  deep,  and  in  damp  or  marshy  places.  In 
altitudes  high  up  among  the  clouds  ferns  exist,  as  well  as  in  low 
situations  near  the  level  of  the  sea.  In  the  arctics  and  in  the 
tropics — there  is  scarcely  a  spot  on  the  habitable  globe  wherein 
the  lover  of  plants  may  not  expect  to  find  a  fern.  The  greater 
part  of  the  Ferns  of  the  Eastern  United  States  love  the  shade 
of  woods,  or  to  be  in  rich  or  damp  meadows ;  and  those  that 
live  on  rocks  are  usually  found  where  there  is  shade  above  them, 
or  cool  moisture  about  the  roots.  But  our  present  species, 
Chcilanthcs  vestita — the  Hairy  Lip-Fern — is  one  which  grows  in 
the  clefts  of  dry  rocks,  sometimes  in  exposed  sunny  places, 
where  often  in  the  summer  season  it  dries  and  curls  up,  and  ap- 
pears as  if  dead.  In  this  condition  it  has  been  found  by  the 
writer  on  rocks  along  the  Schuylkill  river,  and  in  Southern 
Illinois. 

Most  species  of  fern  are  admired  for  their  thin,  filmy  fronds; 

7  (97) 


98  CHEILAXTIIES    VESTITA. HAIRY    LIP-FERN. 

and  delicate,  graceful  habit.  This  one  has  little  of  such  charac- 
teristics to  commend  it.  Though  the  fronds  are  cut  and  numer- 
ously divided,  there  is  a  stiffness  and  heaviness  about  the  plant 
unusual  in  so  many  of  its  ferny  neighbors.  This  is  increased  by 
the  heavy,  coarse  hair  covering  the  fronds,  and  from  which  its  spe- 
cific name  vcstita  has  been  derived.  There  is  also  an  additional 
heaviness  in  the  appearance  from  the  great  number  of  rather 
large  spores,  which  often  almost  cover  the  back  of  the  fertile 
frond.  Again,  the  curving  back  of  the  margin  of  the  lobes 
of  the  frond,  from  the  manner  of  which  the  generic  name  Is 
derived,  makes  the  fronds  look  unusually  thick  for  a  graceful 
fern.  Still  It  is  a  species  which  Is  very  much  admired  by  fern- 
lovers  ;  and  fern-culturists  make  very  pretty  specimens  of  It, 
when  the  best  conditions  for  its  growth  are  understood. 

This  turning  back  of  the  edges  of  the  leaves  or  fronds  is  one 
of  the  peculiarities  of  the  genus.  In  the  time  of  Linnaeus  it 
would  have  been  regarded  as  a  Plcris,  which  also  has  the  edges 
of  the  fronds  recurved ;  and  Indeed  the  genus  founded  by  Swartz 
was  established  on  a  species  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  pre- 
viously known  as  a  Plcris.  The  date  of  this  establishment  Is 
fixed  by  the  pteridologists  as  1806;  but  the  species  here  illus- 
trated had  been  discovered  by  Michaux  three  years  before,  and 
was  referred  by  him  to  A^ephrodiuni,  a  genus  established  by 
Richard,  a  French  botanist,  a  few  years  before,  and  it  Is  described 
In  his  works  as  NcpJirodium  lanosiun.  When  found  to  be  more 
properly  belonging  to  the  new  genus  Chcilanthcs,  it  was  removed 
to  that  genus,  and  named  Chcilanthcs  vcstita.  Some  botanists 
have  thought  that  as  Michaux  first  described  it,  his  specific 
name  might  at  least  have  been  preserved  when  It  was  taken  to 
Cheilanthes,  and  they  call  it  C.  lanosa ;  but  Professor  Eaton,  In 
his  "Ferns  of  North  America,"  properly  shows  that  though  it  is 
sometimes  desirable  to  carry  on  these  names  where  changes  are 
made,  It  is  not  obligatory  on  the  botanist  to  do  so,  and  therefore 
we  must  abide  by  Swartz's  name,  CJicilanthcs  vcstita,  though 
IMIchaux  and  not  he  was  the  original  describer  of  the  plant ;  and 


CIIEILANTllES    VESTITA. IIAIRV    LIP-FERN. 


99 


we  thus  have  an  ilhistration  of  a  rule  in  botanical  nomenclature, 
that  when  a  botanist  discovers  that  a  plant  belongs  to  a  different 
genus  from  the  one  in  which  it  has  been  placed,  and  has  the  right 
to  make  a  new  name  for  it  if  it  be  a  new  genus,  the  adjective  or 
specific  name  belongs  of  right  to  him  also. 

For  a  long  time  the  Hairy  Lip-fern  was  the  only  known  species 
of  our  country,  but  of  late  years  several  others  have  been  dis- 
covered, both  in  the  eastern  and  western  portions  of  the  United 
States. 

This  fern  is  very  variable  in  its  growth  in  different  locations, 
and  the  collector  may  often  be  inclined  to  look  on  his  collections 
as  new  species.  In  Mr.  Williamson's  "Ferns  of  Kentucky"  is  a 
cut  of  the  prevailing  form  in  that  State  which  shows  a  much  more 
elongated  and  narrower  frond  than  ours.  On  the  Pacific  coast 
some  are  found  with  a  close  relation  to  ours,  but  Professor  l^aton 
decides  these  to  be  specifically  distinct.  In  the  sixth  volume  of 
the  "Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club"  he  shows  particu- 
larly how  the  C.  CoopcrcE  of  California  differs  from  our  present 
species  in  the  hairs  being  tipped  with  a  glandular  enlargement. 
It  would  be  well  for  those  who  may  have  the  opportunity  of 
noticing  the  species  described  here  to  observe  whether  among 
the  variations  to  which  it  is  known  to  be  subjected  there  is  in 
any  localities  a  tendency  towards  this  peculiarity.  Mr.  William- 
son in  his  "Ferns  of  Kentucky"  notes  that  the  hairs  in  our  spe- 
cies are  flattened  as  seen  under  a  microscope,  a  form  of  hair 
not  often  found  in  plants. 

As  already  stated.  Ferns  have  a  wide  geographical  range,  some 
extending  to  the  extreme  north,  and  others  favoring  the  tropics; 
but  distinct  classes  incline  to  have  their  own  separate  centres, 
and  in  this  relation  the  species  of  the  genus  CJieilanthcs  seem  to 
be  departures  from  a  southern  rather  than  a  northern  home. 
The  Hairy  Lip-fern,  now  illustrated,  is  the  most  northern  of  all 
that  grow  along  the  Adantic  sea-board  states.  Professor 
Gray  says  in  his  "Manual,"  that  it  is  found  in  the  clefts  of 
rocks    on    New  York  island,  where    it  was  found    by  ]\Ir.  \\\ 


lOO  .  CHEILANTHES    VESTITA. HAIRY    LIP-FERN, 

Denslow,  and  from  thence  through  New  Jersey  to  Illinois  and 
southwards;  and  Professor  Eaton  in  his  "Ferns  of  North  Amer- 
ica" adds  to  this  "Missouri  and  Kansas,  and  southward  to  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia."  Of  special  locations  Professor  Eaton  quotes 
Hackensack  Swamp,  New  Jersey,  discovered  by  Mr.  F.  J.  Bum- 
stead,  in  1865.  Dr.  Chapman,  on  the  authority  of  Professor 
Kunze,  of  Leipsic,  gives  near  Augusta,  Georgia ;  and  Dr.  Kunze 
himself,  as  quoted  in  volume  6  of  "Silliman's  Journal,"  new 
series,  says,  "it  is  evidendy  common  in  the  southern  states." 
Dr.  Engelmann,  in  the  same  volume,  remarks  that  he  "had  col- 
lected it  on  the  calcareous  rocks  about  the  Hot  Springs  of  "Ar- 
kansas;" and  Dr.  Darlington  says  in  "Flora  Cestrica,"  that  it  is 
very  common  on  rocks  in  Chester  county.  Pa.  hi  Kentucky, 
Mr.  Williamson  says,  it  is  rather  rare,  and  gives  Sweet  Lick 
Knob,  near  Irvine,  found  by  Dr.  Crozier ;  and  near  the  boundary 
between  Edmonson  and  Barren  counties,  near  the  Diamond 
Cave,  by  Professor  Hussey,  as  special  locations. 

Professor  Eaton  furnishes  several  synonyms  under  which  it 
has  been  known,  but,  except  perhaps  Adianhun  vcstihini  of 
Sprengel,  there  are  none  beyond  those  already  noted  likely  to 
be  met  with  by  our  readers. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. —  i.  A  full-sized  plant  from  a  living  specimen,  furnished  by  Mr. 
Jackson  Dawson.  2.  Enlarged  views  of  portions  of  the  frond,  showing  the  recurved  lip- 
like margin. 


IRIS    MISSOURIENSIS. 
ROCKY    MOUNTAIN    IRIS. 

NATURAL   ORDEK,    IRIDACEyE. 

Iris  Missouriensis,  Nuttall.— Fioweis  beardless;  stalk  terete,  taller  than  the  leaves,  sub  three- 
flowered;  leaves  narrow,  sword  shaped;  capsule  oblong-Iinear;  flowers  two-colored. 
Stem  twelve  to  sixteen  inches  high,  erect,  filled  with  pith,  producing  about  three  flowers, 
of  which  the  large  reflected  petals  are  yellow,  and  the  inner  petals  blue  and  narrow. 
Germ  oblong-linear.  (Nuttall  in  an  account  of  the  plants  collected  by  Captain  Wyeth. 
Jourual  pf  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  38,  l'84i. 
See  also  Sereno  Watson's  Botany  of  Clarence  King's  Expedition  as  Iris  Tolmieana,  and 
Porter's  Flora  of  Colorado  as  Iris  tenax  ?) 

HOUGH  we  aim  to  make  our  work  one  for  the  whole 
people  as  well  as  for  the  botanist,  and  it  mi^ht  therefore 
seem  that  all  that  is  known  of  a  plant's  popular  as  well  as  of  its 
scientific  history  should  be  included,  it  is  not  possible  to  do  more 
than  make  selections,  or  give  brief  notes,  except  in  cases  where 
there  may  be  many  species  of  a  genus,  when  from  time  to  time 
we  might  hope  to  furnish  enough  to  make  every  branch  of  a 
plant's  history  tolerably  complete.  In  regard  to  Iris  we  have 
already  given  short  sketches  of  its  popular  history,  and  have 
related  that  the  ancients  gave  its  fabulous  origin  to  Juno,  in 
honor  of  Iris,  one  of  her  waiting-maids.  We  may  here  quote  the 
account  of  this  as  set  forth  by  a  French  writer  of  several  hundred 
years  ago,  Louis  L.  D'Auxerre,  and  translated  into  English  in 
1706: 

"  We  are  at  a  loss  to  know  where  Ii'is  first  had  a  being ;  some 
say  at  Florence;  others  in  Greece;  some  in  England;  and 
others  again  fix  her  Nadvity  elsewhere ;  but  it  is  known  that  she 
was  the  Daughter  of  Thaumantias  and  Electra ;  and,  inasmuch 
as   these  Deities  travell'd  much,  the  Place  of  her  Nativity  was 

(lOl) 


I02  IRIS    MISSOUKIENSIS. ROCKY    MOUNTAIN    IRIS. 

not  certainly  known.  Iris  was  a  true  Copy  of  her  Original ;  she 
was  handsome,  and  had  a  noble  Air ;  and  somewhat  else  in  her 
Carriage  that  spoke  her  Divine  Original. 

"According  to  the  good  Custom  of  the  Parents  who  seek  noth- 
ino-  but  the  Advantage  of  their  children,  Thaumantias  and  Electra 
made  it  their  whole  care  to  advance  their  Daughter  and  procure 
her  a  Station  worthy  of  her  birth ;  and  at  last,  managed  the 
Matter  so  well,  that  Juno  took  her  for  her  First  Maid  of  Honour. 
''Iris  indeed  had  but  odd  Cards  to  play,  having  to  live  in  the 
one  House  with  Jupiter,  who,  as  all  the  World  knows,  was  a  God 
of  an  Unholy  Character.  But  after  all  Iris  lived  there,  and 
remained  a  Model  of  every  Virtue  ;  for  she  being  sprung  of  such 
Blood  as  hated  every  Species  of  Dishonor,  carry'd  herself  so 
steadily,  that  even  the  Sovereign  of  the  Gods  respected  her. 

"Juno,  prepossess'd  with  an  opinion  of  the  Girl's  Discretion, 
bestowed  upon  her,  besides  the  place  she  had,  the  Office  of  receiv- 
ing the  Souls  of  dying  Women,  and  conveying  them  to  their 
appointed  Stations  ;  but  this  was  not  the  only  Favour  she  showed 
to  Iris;  for,  after  that  Iris  had  served  her  a  litde  while,  she 
resolved  that  she  should  not  only  appear  in  Heaven,  but  that  a 
flozver  should  grow  upon  the  Earth  that  should  bear  her  Name, 
and  be  deck'd  in  imitation  of  her,  with  divers  Colours. 

"In  pursuance  of  this  Resolution,  the  Goddess  took  a  certain 
Liquor,  in  which  Iris  blowed  three  times  ;  then  shaking  it  again 
and  again  in  a  litde  Vessel,  she  gave  it  to  her  Waidng-Maid, 
who,  after  applying  it  for  a  Moment  to  her  Mouth,  pour'd  it  upon 
the  Earth,  where,  as  soon  as  it  fell,  up  started  a  Flozver,  that  has 
ever  since  gone  by  the  Name  of  IrisT 

Most  Irises  of  the  United  States  are  found  at  low  elevations 
and  in  damp  situations;  some  few  at  elevations  of  one  or  two 
thousand  feet;  but  the  present  species.  Iris  Missourieusis, 
grows  in  places  high  above  the  level  of  the  sea  and  in  districts 
where  rain  seldom  falls.  The  following,  from  Longfellow's 
"  Evangeline,"  exactly  describes  the  location  wherein  our  plant 
is  found — 


IRIS    MISSOURIENSIS. RUCKY    MOUNTAIN    IRIS.  I03 

"  Far  in  the  West  there  lies  a  desert  land,  where  the  mountains 
Lift,  through  perpetual  snows,  their  lofty  and  luminous  summits. 
Down  from  their  jagged,  deep  ravines,  where  the  gorge,  like  a  gateway, 
Opens  a  passage  rude  to  the  wheels  of  the  emigrant's  wagon. 
Westward  the  Oregon  flows  and  the  Walleway  and  Owyhee 
Eastward,  with  devious  course,  among  the  Wind-river  Mountains, 
Through  the  Sweet- water  Valley  precipitate  leaps  the  Nebraska; 
And  to  the  South,  from  Fontaine-qui-bouille  and  the  Spanish  Sierras, 
Fretted  with  sands  and  rocks,  and  swept  by  the  wind  of  the  desert." 

As  it  is  the  only  species  of  Iris  found  there,  the  common  name 
of  "Rocky  Mountain  Iris"  has  suggested  itself  to  us.  It  was 
first  discovered  by  Captain  Wyeth  on  the  return  from  his  cele- 
brated expedition  to  the  Pacific  coast  which  left  St.  Louis  in 
March,  1834.  Mr.  Nuttall  says  Captain  Wyeth  found  it  "near 
the  sources  of  the  Missouri  on  July  9th,"  and  the  specimen  which 
he  gathered,  and  from  which  Nuttall  made  his  description,  is 
preserved  in  the  Herbarium  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia.  The  plant,  from  which  our  drawing  was  made, 
was  raised  from  seed  gathered  by  the  writer  of  this,  in  1871, 
from  nearly  the  same  location  on  a  level  dry  plain  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  about  8,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Professor 
Porter  notes  that  it  has  also  been  collected  in  Colorado  by  Dr. 
Smith,  Brandegee,  and  Hall  and  Harbour,  and  again  the  writer  col- 
lected it  in  the  Veta  Pass  in  Southern  Colorado,  in  1878,  so  that 
it  may  be  looked  for  by  those  collecting  in  various  parts  of  this 
interesting  region.  The  knowledge  of  Nuttall's  plant  was  lim- 
ited, and  hence  the  specimens,  found  by  other  collectors  from 
this  point  west  to  Oregon,  were  not  properly  identified  with  it. 
and  the  species  has  been  re-named  by  other  authors.  Herbert, 
in  the  "  Botany  of  Beechey's  Voyage,"  describes  it  as  /.  Tobuic- 
ana,  and  as  such  it  is  referred  to  in  Watson's  "  Botany  of  King's 
Expedition."  Mr.  Watson,  after  examining  the  specimens  in  the 
Philadelphia  Academy,  decides  this  to  be  the  same  as  Nuttall's 
original  species.  This  discovery  gives  our  Rocky  Mountain 
plant  a  wider  geographical  range.  As  /.  Tolmieana  Mr.  Watson 
records  it  "  on  the  Willamette,  Oregon  ;  Northern  California ; 
Ruby  Valley,  Nevada.  Rather  frequent  on  the  Pah-Ute  to  the 
East  Humboldt  Mountains,  Nevada.  6.000  feet  altitude." 


I04  IRIS    MISSOURIENSIS. ROCKY    MOUNTAIN    IRIS. 

While  sending  our  specimens  to  Mr.  Watson,  the  drawing 
was  also  forwarded,  of  which  he  kindly  says:  "  The  leaves  should 
be  narrower  (they  are  usually  two  to  three  lines  broad — rarely 
more)  and  a  paler  glaucous  green.  It  should  show  a  pair  of 
closely  approximate  bracts,  acuminate,  and  differing  from  those 
of  our  other  allied  species  in  being  thin,  pale  and  scariously  mar- 
gined, becoming  wholly  scarious.  The  petals  (standards  as 
Baker  calls  them)  should  be  erect  to  the  tips  or  nearly  so.  The 
flower  of  Iris  is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  figure  if  you  wish  to  give 
more  than  a  general  idea  of  it,  and  very  few  of  them  in  the 
books  are  really  satisfactory  botanically.  This  of  yours  is  on  the 
whole  as  good  as  could  be  expected,  with  the  one  exception 
noted." 

Our  plant  had  but  the  one  scape,  and  the  endeavor  to  give  the 
manner  in  which  the  second  bud  pushes  from  one  side  of  the 
bracts  prevented  the  showing  of  the  double  character.  But  to 
correct  the  deficiency  noted  by  Mr.  Watson,  we  have  since 
added  from  a  dried  scape  (Fig.  5),  showing  the  two  bracts 
referred  to  at  B.  In  regard  to  the  width  of  the  leaves  and  tint, 
we  may  say  that  they  are  faithful  representations  of  nature  at  the 
time  the  drawing  was  made  ;  but  the  root-stock  as  seen  in  our 
picture  is  very  strong  and  vigorous.  No  leaves  are  wider  than 
those  represented,  most  are  longer  and  slenderer,  as  suggested 
by  Mr.  Watson.  As  seen  in  our  plate,  the  flowers  appear 
sessile;  but  as  they  mature,  as  the  writer  has  seen  them  in  their 
native  places  of  growth,  only  one  fruit  seems  to  come  to  perfec- 
tion, and  that  one  is  on  a  pedicel  of  perhaps  two  inches  long. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. —  i.  Root-stock  of  last  year.  2.  Terminal  growth  of  root-stock 
of  preceding  year.  3.  Sub-terminal  bud  of  last  year,  bearing  the  flower  of  the  present  sea- 
son. 4.  Scape,  showing  the  bursting  of  the  second  flower  from  the  bracts.  5.  The  scape 
at  maturity  not  having  perfected  seed,  but  showing  at  B  the  two  distinct  bracts. 


■^ 


SOLIDAGO    ULMIFOLIA. 
ELM-LEAVED    GOLDEN-ROD. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    COMPOSIT.E. 


SOLIDAGO  ULMIFOLIA,  Muhlenberg. — Stem  smooth,  the  branches  hairy;  leaves  thin,  elliptical- 
ovate  or  oblong-lanceolate,  pointed,  tapering  to  the  base,  loosely  veined,  beset  with  soft 
hairs  beneath ;  racemes  panicled,  recurved-spreading;  scales  of  the  involucre  lanceolate- 
oblong  ;  rays  about  four.  (Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States. 
See  also  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Wood's  Class-Book  of 
Botany.) 


O  work  professing  to  give  a  general  view  of  the  native 
flowers  of  the  United  States  would  do  justice  to  its 
professions  unless  it  had  something  to  say  of  the  Golden-rods, 
for  they  are  among  the  most  distinguished  of  American  flowers. 
Everybody  who  knows  anything  of  our  wild  scenery  knows  the 
Golden-rod ;  and  no  picture  or  description  of  an  American 
autumn  landscape  would  be  complete  without  the  Golden-rod  as 
an  essential  part  thereof.  Our  polite  literature  is  full  of 
allusions  to  this  flower:  the  best  remembered  being  perhaps 
that  by  Bryant  in  his  "  Death  of  the  Flowers  " — 

"  The  Wind  flower  and  the  Violet,  they  perished  long  ago, 
And  the  Briar-rose  and  the  Orchis  died  amid  the  summer  glow ; 
But  on  the  hill  the  Golden-rod,  and  the  Aster  in  the  wood, 
And  the  yellow  Sun-flower  by  the  brook  in  autumn  beauty  stood. 
Till  fell  the  frost  from  the  clear  cold  heaven,  as  falls  the  plague  on  men. 
And  the  brightness  of  their  smile  was  gone,  from  upland,  glade  and  glen." 

Our  country  is  famous  for  the  fading  tints  of  its  autumn  foli- 
age ;  but  the  rich  yellow  flowers  of  the  Golden-rod  mixing  with 
the  falling  leaves  do  much  towards  the  reputation  for  unsur- 
passed beauty  which  American  autumn  scenery  enjoys.  There 
are  nearly  fifty  different  species  in  the  genus,  and  with  one  or 

i.JOS) 


I06  SOLIDAGO    ULMIFOLIA. ELM-LEAVED    GOLDEN-ROD. 

two  yellowish-white  exceptions  are  all  of  them  yellow ;  but  they 
vary  very  much  in  habit  and  in  the  arrangement  of  the  flowers, 
so  that  though  the  Golden-rods  are  everywhere  in  our  autumn 
fields  and  forests,  there  seems  to  be  an  unending  variation  in  the 
effect  they  produce  ;  and  the  impression  to  the  novice  in  their 
study  is  that  there  are  even  a  greater  number  of  species  among 
them  than  is  actually  the  case. 

Though  so  numerous  in  America,  they  are  represented  also  in 
Europe,  but  only  by  a  single  species — the  Solidago  Virga-aiu'ca 
— long  known  to  the  people  of  the  Old  World  as  the  "  Golden- 
rod,"  a  name  which  has  come  with  the  emigrant  to  the  New 
World,  and  has  thus  been  given  to  the  whole  family,  though  few 
of  them  have  that  virgate  or  rod-like  character  which  suggested 
the  name  for  the  original  species.  An  old  herbalist  tells  us  "it 
is  called  in  Latin  Virga  aurea,  because  the  Stalks,  being  reddish, 
make  the  bushy  tips  of  the  Flowers  seem  as  if  they  were  of  a 
Gold-yellow,  and  in  English  it  is  called  Golden-rod:'  It  is  how- 
ever interesting  to  note  that  though  there  is  only  one  species 
indigenous  to  Europe,  that  one  species,  Solidago  Virga-aurea,  is 
also  a  true  native  of  the  northern  regions  of  our  own  continent. 
Another  interesting  fact  in  their  geographical  relationship  is  that 
notwithstanding  their  great  number — nearly  half  a  hundred  spe- 
cies— in  the  Adantic  portion  of  the  United  States,  they  almost 
disappear  as  they  approach  the  Pacific  Ocean,  only  seven  spe- 
cies being  described  in  Brewer  and  Watson's  "  Botany  of  Cali- 
fornia." 

To  show  how  rapidly  our  knowledge  of  the  Golden-rods  pro- 
gressed, it  may  noted  that  in  a  copy  of  Gronovius'  "  Flora  Vir- 
crinica"  before  us,  issued  in  1762,  there  are  but  three  species 
described.  Muhlenberg  in  his  catalogue  (181 3)  enumerates 
forty-three,  and  for  the  whole  of  North  America,  Nuttall  notes 
but  forty-nine  in  1818  ;  while  now  before  us  is  a  copy  of  Wood's 
"Class-Book,"  in  which  are  described  forty-eight  east  of  die 
Mississippi  alone.  Some  of  these  indeed  may  be  regarded  in 
time  as  mere  varieties  of  others,  for  in  these  days,  as  our  know- 


SOLIDAGO    ULMIFOLIA. ELM-LEAVED    GOLDEN-ROD,  107 

ledge  of  variation  increases,  the  tendency  of  the  best  botanists  is 
to  unite  forms  rather  than  to  name  new  species  for  every  litde 
shade  of  difference.  The  herbaHst,  to  whom  we  have  already 
referred,  gives  a  figure  of  what  he  calls  the  "Golden-rod  with 
dented  leaves,"  and  then  refers  to  the  "American  Golden-rod," 
of  which  he  says  :  "This  Plant  is  so  like  to  the  other,  that  the  Fig- 
ure of  that  may  very  well  serve  for  this  without  any  considerable 
Error;  "  and  though  this  expression  may  excite  a  smile  from  the 
accurate  botanist  of  the  present  day,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  tendency  in  the  past  was  too  much  in  the  way  of  making 
distinct  species,  or  at  least  of  giving  distinct  names  to  every 
slight  deviation  from  an  assumed  typical  form.  Even  of  our 
present  species,  Solidago  ubnifolia,  Dr.  Gray  says  in  the  "  Man- 
ual," "too  near  Solidago  altissima ;  disdnguished  only  by  its 
smooth  stem  and  the  larger  leaves." 

It  may  be  here  noted  that  the  name  ulmifolia,  meaning  having 
leaves  like  an  Uhims  or  Elm,  is  calculated  to  mislead,  for  the 
leaf,  has  no  great  resemblance  to  that  of  an  Elm.  Willdenow, 
under  botanical  rules  which  call  for  a  descripdon  and  name, 
should  properly  be  credited  with  this  one,  as  he  first  published 
a  description  of  it,  though  he  gives  credit  to  Muhlenberg  as 
having  sent  him  the  name.  It  appears  however  that  Muhlen- 
berg sent  out  toothers  a  different  species  under  this  designadon, 
and  it  is  probable,  from  the  unlikeness  of  this  to  an  Elm,  that  it 
was  not  the  one  originally  intended  to  bear  the  name ;  but  as 
names  are  intended  to  be  "  only  names,"  this  is  now  of  litde 
consequence,  except  as  a  matter  of  history. 

The  name  of  the  genus  Solidago  is  usually  referred  to  Lin- 
naeus, though  he  credits  it  to  Vaillant,  one  of  the  great  botanists 
of  the  generation  which  immediately  preceded  his.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  derived  from  solidiis,  a  Latin  word  mcanine  makin<r 
whole  or  solid,  and  to  be  given  to  the  "  virga-aurea,"  from  its 
medical  reputation.  Salmon,  the  herbalist  of  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  says :  "It  is  one  of  the  most  noble  Wound- 
Herbs;   cures  Wounds  and  Ulcers."     It  also  appears  to  have 


I08  SOLIDAGO    ULMIFOLIA. ELM-LEAVED    GOLDEN-ROD. 

been  quite  famous  as  a  dye.  Another  of  the  old  herbalists, 
Culpeper,  says  :  "  Venus  rules  this  herb.  It  is  a  balsamic  vulner- 
ary herb,  long  famous  against  inward  hurts  and  bruises.  No 
preparation  is  better  than  a  tea  of  this  herb  for  this  service  ;  and 
the  young  leaves,  green  or  dry,  have  the  most  Virtue."  Lin- 
naeus admits  it  into  his  "  Materia  Medica "  as  a  vulnerary  and 
diuredc.  It  is  among  the  most  remarkable  of  medical  facts,  that 
a  plant,  which  was  once  so  famous  as  to  elicit  such  strong  com- 
mendadon,  and  to  have  a  name  given  to  it  in  connecdon  with 
this  reputadon,  should  now  be  wholly  discarded  from  medical 
practice. 

Our  species,  5.  nlmifoHa,  has  litde  to  call  especial  attention  to 
beyond  what  it  might  share  with  other  species  of  the  genus.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  common  kinds  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania 
where  the  plant  illustrated  grew.  Its  most  striking  character- 
isdc  is  perhaps  its  large,  open,  branching  stalks.  Most  of  the 
familiar  species  of  this  region  have  their  flowers  in  dense  heads 
terminating  the  main  flower  stem  ;  but  this  one  begins  to  throw 
out  slender  branchlets,  such  as  the  one  illustrated,  low  down  on 
the  stem  ;  and  there  are  many  scores  of  these  twiggy  dividing 
branchlets  in  the  make-up  of  the  complete  flower  stalk.  One  of 
these  main  stems,  often  two  feet  high,  covered  with  expanded 
flowers,  is  very  showy  indeed.  It  loves  to  grow  in  half-shaded 
woods,  or  in  rather  low,  open  places.  In  such  situadons  it  is 
often  met  with  in  most  of  the  States  from  Alabama  northwards. 


Explanation  of  the  Plate.— i.  Upper  portion  of  a  mam  flowering  stem.     2.  Lo\v< 
of  the  same.      3.   Enlarged  disk  floret.      4.    A  small  branchlet. 


(f^^^TTv 


Si'CYOS  ANGULATUS. 


I 


SICYOS    ANGULATUS. 
STAR-CUCUMBER. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  CUCURBITACE/E. 


SiCYOS  ANGULATUS,  Liiinreus. — Stem  branching,  hairy;  leaves  roundish,  cordate,  with  an 
obtuse  sinus,  five-angled  or  five-lobed,  lobes  acuminate,  denticulate,  female  flower  much 
smaller  than  the  male.  A  weak  climbing  vine,  with  long,  spiral,  branching  tendrils. 
Leaves  three  to  four  inches  broad,  alternale,  on  long  stalks.  Flowers  whitish,  marked  with 
green  lines,  the  barren  in  long  pedunculate  racemes.  Fruit  six  lines  long,  ovate,  spinous, 
eight  to  ten  together  in  a  crowded  cluster,  each  with  one  large  seed.  (Wood's  Class-Book 
of  Botany.  See  also  Gray's  Manical  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States  and 
Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.) 


HE  true  artist  has  a  great  regard  for  nature  when  she 
pays  her  respects  to  him  attired  in  gayly  colored  rai- 
ment, and  when  we  handed  this  plainly  dressed  individual  to 
Mr.  Lunzer,  a  shade  of  disappointment  clouded  his  brow.  It 
seemed  as  if  he  would  like  to  say,  "  What  can  I  make  of  a 
uniform  tint  of  green  ?  "  But  we  shall  be  much  mistaken  if 
most  of  those  who  examine  our  plate  do  not  pronounce  it  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  pictures  any  of  our  wild  llowers  have  so 
far  afforded  us.  It  is,  indeed,  extremely  rare  that  so  many 
elements  of  beauty  are  combined  in  one  subject,  and  especially 
when  the  great  advantage  of  brilliant  colors  is  wholly  wanting. 
A  considerable  amount  of  strength  is  expressed  in  the  leaves 
and  in  the  stems,  yet  the  stem  is  not  so  very  strong  but  its 
gentle  curve  as  it  narrows  towards  the  apex  harmonizes  with 
elegance.  The  lower  portion  of  the  stem  is  straight,  and  this  is 
in  excellent  harmony  with  the  straight  peduncle,  straight  mid- 
veins  and  angles  of  the  leaves ;  and  yet  these  alone  would  have 
a  very  stiff  appearance  but  for  the  timely  relief  afforded  by  the 


no  SICYOS    ANGULATUS. STAR-CUCUMBER. 

slight  rounding  of  the  base  of  the  leaf-blade,  and  the  general 
circular  oudine  formed  by  the  mass  of  litde  "pepos,"  as  some 
authors  call  the  fruits  of  some  of  these  Cuciirbitaceous  plants. 
As  the  branch  departs  from  its  heaviness  with  its  growth,  and 
presents  a  pleasing  curve,  its  elegance  is  increased  by  the 
slender  tendrils  gracefully  twisting,  and  gendy  decreasing  the 
diameter  of  their  spiral  coils  till  they  terminate  in  a  fine  silk- 
like thread.  Indeed,  for  a  gradual  blending  of  straight  lines 
wdth  curves,  of  heaviness  with  lightness,  and  of  strength  with 
elegance,  this  illustration  of  the  "star-cucumber"  can  scarcely 
be  surpassed,  and  will  afford  an  interesting  lesson  to  those  to 
whom  beauty  is  a  science. 

Then  there  are  a  few  points  worth  noting  by  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  literary  history  of  plants.  Our  subject  seems 
to  have  been  known  to  some  of  the  earlier  botanists,  and  Tourne- 
fort,  the  predecessor  of  Linnaeus  in  the  work  of  botanical  reform, 
placed  it  in  the  genus  Sicoyoides — meaning,  like  the  cucumber — 
sicyos  (or  sycios,  according  to  Nuttall  and  others)  being 
"cucumber"  to  the  ancient  Greeks.  Linnaeus  established  a 
rule  that  no  adjective  terminations  should  be  allowed  in  generic 
names,  and  hence  the  last  part  was  cut  off,  leaving  Sicyos  only. 
The  explanation  may  be  of  service,  as  when  the  student  is  simply 
told  that  the  name  "is  the  ancient  name  of  the  cucumber,"  he 
would  be  led  to  wonder  what  relation  our  plant  bore  to  the 
cucumber  of  the  olden  time.  Tournefort,  In  naming  it  Sicoyoides, 
had  doubdess  nothing  more  In  his  mind  than  the  great  resem- 
blance which  the  leaves,  stems,  and  tendrils  bore  to  the  common 
cucumber,  a  resemblance  which  is  certainly  very  close.  It  is  not 
quite  clear  what  was  the  real  cucumber  of  the  ancients.  The 
"lodge,  in  a  garden  of  cucumbers,"  of  Isaiah  and  other  scrip- 
tural references,  are  believed  to  relate  rather  to  some  kind  of 
melon  than  to  our  modern  cucumber. 

Passing  from  the  foliage  to  the  fruit  we  find  very  litde  here  to 
remind  us  of  its  common  family  name.  Instead  of  a  large  number 
of  seeds  In  a  succulent  capsule,  each  litde  flower  results  in  a  single 


SICYOS    ANGULATUS, STAR-CUCUMBEK.  Ill 

seed,  surrounded,  finally,  by  a  diin,  dry  covering.  Each  of  the 
litde  "cucumbers"  we  see  in  our  cluster  is  indeed  nearly  all 
seed.  It  is  from  the  somewhat  stellate  appearance  of  this 
cluster  of  seed  vessels  that  the  common  name  of  star-cucumber 
is  derived.  It  is  sometimes  called  "single-seeded  cucumber,"  for 
reasons  already  made  obvious.  Alton  says  it  is  commonly  called 
"  Cho-cho  vine ; "  but  this  is  probably  an  error,  the  name 
belonging  to  the  SecJiiiim  eciide,  a  plant  of  the  same  natural 
order  growing  in  the  West  Indies. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  incidents  in  the  life  of  the  star- 
cucumber  is  its  amazing  growth  under  favorable  circumstances. 
Dr.  John  M.  Coulter,  at  page  72  of  first  volume  of  the  "Botanical 
Gazette,"  speaking  of  the  Lower  Wabash,  in  Indiana,  says: 
"  These  low  rich  bottoms  have  yielded  such  monsters  in  growth, 
especially  among  the  climbers,  that  one  is  reminded  of  a  South 
American  jungle,"  and  among  these  climbers  refers  especially  to 
the  "  single-seeded  cucumber,  Sicyos  angidatus,  matting  all  bushes 
and  vegetadon  within  ten  feet  of  its  root  into  a  thicket,  or 
climbing  up  a  neighboring  tree  to  the  distance  of  sixty-three 
feet." 

Dr.  Darlington,  in  his  "Flora  Cestrica,"  notes  that  "this 
cucumber-like  vine  has  found  its  way  into  some  gardens,  where 
it  is  something  of  a  nuisance,  and  rather  difficult  to  be  got  rid 
of,"  though  the  amiable  old  botanist  did  not  seem  to  have  a 
heart  to  include  it  among  the  farm  evils  in  his  "Agricultural 
Botany."  But  Dr.  Michener,  in  his  "  Manual  of  Weeds,"  has  less 
tenderness  for  the  beautiful  vine.  He  says  it  is  "an  unwelcome 
vagrant  from  the  gardens,  which  requires  to  be  closely  watched, 
wherever  it  may  occur."  The  writer  of  this  has  often  watched 
it,  but  not  as  an  "  unwelcome  vagrant,"  or  as  a  vagrant  in  any 
case.  It  loves  to  grow  about  old  wood-piles,  or  in  any  place 
where  there  is  an  abundance  of  decaying  vegetable  matter;  and 
it  often  does  loving  service  in  covering  up  the  remains  of  old 
carts  or  farm  implements  that  are  too  often  left  in  most  unsightly 
condidons  about  farm  buildings.     It  is  indeed  pleasant  to  watch 


112  SICYOS    ANGULATUS, STAR-CUCUMBER. 

it  under  these  circumstances  and  note  how  rapidly  it  grows,  and 
transforms  what  was  unpleasant  into  a  picturesque  and  often 
beautiful  scene.  The  rapidity  of  its  growth  already  referred  to 
will  always  make  it  a  subject  of  interesting  study.  The  plant 
from  which  our  illustration  was  taken  sprouted  from  a  seed  in 
May,  and  before  frost  had  rambled  over  bushes  some  thirty  feet 
away.  It  had  many  hundreds  of  branches.  An  estimate  was 
formed  of  their  number,  and  it  was  found  that  if  these  branches 
were  placed  end  to  end  they  would  make  a  line  of  two  thousand 
feet !  Many  of  the  lower  leaves  die  as  the  growth  progresses, 
but  the  calculation  gave  about  one  hundred  square  feet  of  leaf- 
surface  on  the  vine  at  one  time,  from  which  an  immense  amount 
of  moisture  must  be  exhaled  during  the  twenty-four  hours.  The 
stem  at  the  ground  is  no  thicker  than  a  lead-pencil,  and  the 
reader  can  imagine  how  rapid  must  be  the  flow  of  water  through 
this  narrow  stem  in  order  to  supply  the  enormous  exhalation. 
We  look  with  wonder  on  the  mammoth  tree  of  California  and 
similar  vegetable  productions, — but  not  less  wonderful  are  the 
facts  of  plant-growth  everywhere  about  us,  and  in  few  things  are 
they  more  strikingly  illustrated  than  in  the  growth  of  the  star- 
cucumber. 

It  grows  in  most  of  the   states  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
except  the  extreme  northeast  and  northwest  portions. 


ASPLENIUM  EBENOJDES 


ASPLENIUM    EBENOIDES. 
SCOTT'S   SPLEENWORT. 

NATURAL   ORDER.    FILICES. 


AsPLENlUM  EBENOIDES,  R.  R.  Scott. — Fronds  evergreen.  Barren  fronds  spreading,  four  to  six 
inches  long,  lanceolate,  pinnate  at  the  base,  pinnatifid  towards  the  apex,  tapering  into  a 
slender  prolongation;  apex  rooting;  rachis  black.  Fertile  fronds  eight  to  ten  inches  long, 
nearly  upright,  pinnate  at  the  base;  pinnules  of  unequal  length,  an  inch  or  more  long, 
linear  lanceolate ;  frond  tapering  into  a  slender  prolongation  which  is  sinuous  and  prolif- 
erous, mid-rib  permanent  to  the  apex ;  fronds  more  membranaceous  than  Aspleniuni  pin- 
natifidum,  which,  with  the  i)lack  rachis,  distinguishes  it  from  that  species.  (R.  Robinson 
Scott,  in  Gardener'' s  JMontlily  for  September,  1865.  See  also  Gray's  Mamtal  of  lite 
Botany  of  the  iVort/iern  United  States,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States, 
and  Eaton's  Ferns  of  North  America.') 


HIS  interesting  fern  has  a  remarkable  history.  A  single 
plant  was  discovered  in  1862,  eight  miles  from  Phila- 
delphia, on  the  west  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  by  Robert  Robinson 
Scott,  then  gardener  to  Mr.  Kennedy,  of  Port  Kennedy.  Mr. 
Scott  was  no  ordinary  man.  He  was  related  to  some  of  the 
wealthiest  families  of  Belfast,  in  Ireland,  where  he  was  born 
and  received  an  excellent  education.  He  was  a  proficient  in 
most  of  the  ancient  and  many  of  the  modern  languages,  and 
early  developed  a  taste  for  natural  history,  and  especially  for 
Botany.  He  went  through  a  course  of  study  in  the  Botanic 
Garden  of  Glasnevin,  and  subsequendy  in  the  Royal  Gardens  at 
Kew.  His  father  had  a  passionate  love  for  his  nadve  land  which 
the  son  inherited,  and  their  course  in  this  respect  estranged  them 
from  their  relations,  and  finally  reduced  them  to  absolute  poverty. 
It  was  particularly  a  trait  in  the  young  botanist's  character  that 
he  would  sacrifice  on  the  instant  every  prospect  of  usefulness  in 
his  chosen  scientific  career,  for  his  ideal  of  liberty  and  freedom. 


114  ASPLENIUM    EBENOIDES. SCOTT  S    SPLEENWOKT. 

Thus  it  became  Impossible  for  his  scientific  friends  to  aid  him  to 
any  great  extent,  though  conscious  of  his  eminent  talents.  His 
botanical  acuteness  enabled  him  easily  to  place  any  unknown 
plant  from  any  part  of  the  world  in  its  systematic  relationships, 
and  in  a  remarkably  short  time  to  discover  its  proper  name  and 
history.  Had  he  retained  his  proper  faculties  he  might  have 
become  a  prince  in  Botany.  He  came  to  America  in  1848,  taking 
up  with  the  horticultural  profession  for  a  living.  In  1867-8,  his 
mind  gave  way,  and  he  died  a  few  years  ago  in  the  State  lunatic 
asylum  at  Harrisburg. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  so  acute  an  observer  should  have  detected 
a  new  species  in  this  solitary  plant.  But  it  was  strange  that  he 
could  find  no  leading  botanist  in  America,  to  whom  he  sub- 
n-iitted  specimens,  to  agree  with  him,  or  give  him  the  slightest 
encouragement  in  his  researches — as  he  thought,  because  he  was 
but  "a  poor  gardener."  Satisfied,  however,  that  it  was  new.  he 
described  it  himself  with  an  illustration  in  the  magazine  above 
cited,  but  still  no  notice  was  taken  of  it  in  our  own  land.  He 
then  thought  he  would  try  the  European  botanists,  and  in  1866, 
one  year  after  his  own  description,  the  Rev.  M.  G.  Berkeley 
noticed  it  in  "  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  of 
London"  in  July  of  that  year  as  "probably  a  hybrid,"  but 
retaining  Mr.  Scott's  name.  This  little  piece  of  history  has  its 
valuable  lesson.  It  teaches  the  student  to  search  carefully  for 
facts;  and  when  he,  himself,  is  sure  of  the  facts,  not  to  be  too 
easily  disheartened  because  others  do  not  at  once  see  things  as 
he  does. 

Since  Mr.  Scott  found  his  single  plant,  several  others  have 
been  found  in  the  same  vicinity  by  Mr.  Bburquin,  a  botanist  of 
Camden,  New  Jersey;  by  Miss  Julia  S.  Tutwiler,  of  Greene 
Springs,  near  the  Black  Warrior  river ;  and  by  W.  H.  Leggett,  at 
Canaan  in  Connecticut.  Mr.  John  Williamson,  in  his  "Ferns  of 
Kentucky,"  published  in  1878,  remarks:  "We  have  in  Kentucky 
all  the  Aspleniums  found  in  the  Northern  United  States,  except 
the  somewhat  doubtful  .-J.  cbenoides,'' — but  before  the  sheets  of 


ASPLENIUM    EBENOIDES. SCOTt's    SPLEENWORT.  II5 

his  little  work  were  scarcely  from  the  press  it  was  found,  in 
July  of  that  year,  in  Franklin  county,  in  that  State,  by  Professor 
R.  W.  Wildberger.  It  is,  therefore,  probable  from  these  several 
recent  discoveries  in  widely  separated  localities  that  it  will  yet 
be  found  in  many  other  places,  and  the  probability  will  give 
increased  interest  to  fern  explorations. 

Miss  Julia  Tutvviler  finds  the  plant  in  considerable  quantity  in 
her  location,  and,  in  a  letter  dated  April  15th,  1S79,  to  the  writer 
of  this,  she  thus  describes  her  experience  with  it:  "Our  resi- 
dence in  Alabama  is  in  latitude  32°  47'  north,  longitude  87°  45' 
west,  eight  miles  from  the  Black  Warrior  river.  The  black- 
lands,  or  cotton-lands,  formerly  prairies,  covered  with  cane  and 
with  cedar-hummocks  near  there,  lie  about  fifteen  miles  south  of 
us.  Where  we  reside  the  soil  is  either  red  clay,  or  a  mixture  of 
sand  and  gravel,  except  in  the  creek  and  river  bottoms.  The 
face  of  the  country  is  rolling,  covered  with  hills  from  one  hun- 
dred to  two  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  We  find 
no  stones  here  except  conglomerate,  or  'pudding-stone,'  as  it  is 
familiarly  called.  The  geologists  say  the  whole  formation  here 
belongs  to  the  tertiary.  I  was  agreeably  surprised  some  years 
ago  to  find  some  miles  away  from  our  home,  in  a  deep  glade 
formed  by  the  gradual  work  of  a  little  brook  which  now  runs 
through  it,  several  plants  which  I  have  never  found  around  our 
home,  though  I  know  these  woods  quite  well.  One  of  these 
was  the  Asplcniiim  cbenoides,  which  then  seemed  to  me  so 
peculiar  that  I  sent  a  piece  to  a  botanical  paper,  and  learned 
from  the  editor  that  it  had  been  found  in  only  one  place  in  the 
United  States  before.  The  Virginian  saxifrage,  the  Walking- 
fern,  and  several  others  quite  common  in  the  north,  are  here,  but 
only  in  this  deep  shaded  glen  with  the  Asplenmm  cbcnoidesy 

An  interesting  question  in  connection  is  conveyed  in  Mr. 
Williamson's  expression,  "somewhat  doubtful  species."  Dr. 
Berkeley,  above  cited,  thought  it  a  probable  hybrid,  but  appar- 
endy  only  because  a  single  plant  was  found  growing  with  Campto- 
sorus — the  "  Walking-fern,"  and  ^.s^/^;?/?/;/^  cbcnciun.     Miss  Tut- 


Il6  ASPLENIUM    EBENOIDES. SCOTT  S    SPLEENWORT. 

wiler  does  not  mention  the  latter  species,  which  probably  also 
grows  near  the  Alabama  location  ;  but  the  association  need  sng- 
o-est  hybridity  no  more  than  in  the  case  of  others  also  often  found 
associated.  Again,  those  who  have  experimented  with  them,  tell 
us  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  produce  hybrid  ferns.  When 
germination  of  the  spore  takes  place,  a  small  green  blade  called 
the  prothallus  is  formed.  On  the  surface  of  this  litde  cups  appear, 
which  represent  the  different  sexes  in  flowering  plants,  and  the 
fertilizing  dust,  or  pollen,  as  we  should  say  in  flowering  plants,  is 
ejected  from  the  one  class,  and  has  to  fall  into  the  other.  The 
chances  of  the  ferdle  vesicle,  or,  as  it  is  technically  called,  the 
archegonium,  receiving  fertility  from  any  other  source  than  its 
own  prothallus,  are  found  to  be  very  slim  indeed.  As  a  means 
to  make  it  more  probable,  hybridists  sow  the  spores  of  two 
species  in  immense  abundance  thickly  togedier,  so  that  when  the 
prothallia  develop  they  may  be  pushed  up  on  edge,  and  in  that 
way  the  antherozoids  or  "  pollen  "  be  more  likely  to  be  thrown 
into  the  receptive  vesicles  of  the  other  species.  One  experi- 
menter reports  that  of  millions  of  plants  so  favorably  raised  for 
hybridizadon,  he  yet  never  saw  but  two  undoubted  hybrids.  With 
this  difficulty  it  is  scarcely  within  the  probabilities  that  a  hybrid 
between  the  Walking  and  the  Ebony  ferns  should  appear  in  so 
many  different  and  such  widely  separated  locations. 


Exi'l.AiNATlONS    OF    THE    PLATE. — I.    Plant  of  natural   size  from  Miss  Tutwiler's  location. 
2.  3.  Various  enlarged  sections  of  pinnules   from   different   parts   of  the  plant, — show! 
variations  in  the  venation. 


COMMELYNA  ViRGINICA. 


PnAi.rr>    e.  P,^^/inAK,v   Tir 


COMMELYNA    VIRGINICA. 
COMMON   DAY-FLOWER. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    COMMELYNACE/E. 

CoMMELYNA  ViRGiNiCA,  Liiinseus. — Stems  usually  decumbent;  leaves  lanceolate,  acute,  or 
acuminate,  contracted  at  base  into  sheathing  membraneous  petioles  ;  peduncles  mostly  two 
within  the  bract, — one  usually  more  slender;  rather  erect,  longer  and  one-flowered,  or 
sterile, — the  other  commonly  three-flowered;  odd  petal  colorless, ovate  lanceolate,  about  as 
long  as  the  lateral  sepals.  Plant  nearly  glabrous.  Stem  about  a  foot  long  (three  or  four 
feet  when  supported  in  hedges)  terete.  Leaves  two  to  four  or  five  inches  long,  and  half 
an  inch  to  an  inch  wide;  sheathing  petioles  about  half  an  inch  long,  striate  with  green 
nerves,  pubescent  along  the  margins.  Peduncles  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  in  length,  in- 
closed in  the  recurved  conduplicaie  bract,  both  before  and  after  flowering.  (Darlington's 
Flora  Cestrica,  under  tlie  name  of  Commelyna  angustifolia  ?  See  also  Gray's  Manual 
of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United 
States,  and  Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.') 

REEN,  an  English  writer  on  gardening,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  present  century,  tells  us  that  "  Commelinas  have 
but  little  beauty,  so  that,  after  the  seeds  come  up,  two  or  three  of 
each  sort  is  all  that  are  worth  retaining ; "  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  in  the  days  when  this  judgment  was  given  few  plants 
except  those  with  large  or  highly-colored  flowers  were  thought 
beaudful.  The  more  nearly  a  Rose  resembled  a  cabbage  in  form 
and  size,  the  more  it  was  esteemed, — and  possibly  a  large  red 
Pffiony  would  have  been  considered  the  acme  of  perfection.  But 
the  science  of  beauty  has  progressed  as  well  as  other  sciences,  and 
now  few  of  its  students  would  take  our  plate  and  study  it  in  the 
light  of  its  teaching  and  not  pronounce  it  beautiful.  Of  course  it 
is  not  gay  ;  but  in  the  gracefulness  of  its  lines,  the  harmony  of  its 
proportions,  the  contrasts  of  its  quantities,  and  the  great  variety 
of  its  special  features,  there  are  few  plants  richer  in  the  elements 
of  the  beaudful.      But  to  see  it  in  its  rare  perfection,  we  must 

(117) 


Il8  CCMMELYNA    VIRGINICA. COMMON    DAY-FLOWER, 

visit  it  in  its  native  places,  and  study  it  in  connection  with  all  its 
surroundings.  In  these  situations  it  often  gives  a  charm  to  the 
aspects  of  nature  that  is  almost  indescribable.  One  such  spot  on 
the  Wissahickon  near  Philadelphia  is  now  in  the  writers'  mind, 
Iresh  and  vivid,  though  it  is  years  since  the  picture  was  painted 
there.  The  narrow  path  had  been  worn  so  deep  by  the  rains  of 
ages  that  a  bank  of  many  feet  high  lined  its  sides.  Naked  rocks 
projected  from  the  banks  here  and  there  ;  and  ferns,  grasses,  and 
flowering  plants  lovingly  strove  to  cover  them.  At  the  top  were 
Red  Maples,  Dogwoods,  and  Hornbeams,  which  made  a  partial 
shade,  but  did  not  wholly  screen  the  sun  from  the  earth  at  the 
base  of  the  bank,  where,  and  by  the  path's  side,  the  litde  "day- 
flower"  struggled  up, — now  roodng  in  the  ground  to  hold  itself, — 
now  hanging  its  branches  from  the  rocks, — gaining  continually  in 
its  struggle  upwards,  but  growing  so  luxuriantly  and  seeming 
so  happy  in  its  gains  !  Day  by  day,  the  little  blue  flowers  came 
out  to  cheer  and  encourage  the  plant  in  its  work, — just  opening, 
smiling  approvingly,  and  then  sinking  at  once  to  rest. 

"  The  dew  siole  up 
From  the  fresh  daughters  of  the  enrth,  and  heat 
Came  like  a  sleep  upon  the  delicate  leaves, 
And  bent  them  with  the  blossoms  to  iheir  dreams," 

as  in  the  days  when,  according  to  Willis,  Abraham  went  forth  to 
make  his  fearful  sacrifice.  In  the  morning,  before  the  dew  has 
wholly  stolen  away,  and  in  the  months  of  July  and  August,  is  the 
time  to  see  it  at  its  best.  Then  the  blue  flowers  are  most  numer- 
ous. Sometimes  as  much  as  one-fourth  of  the  whole  green  bed 
of  foliage  is  bedecked  with  the  coerulean  blue. 

But  the  child  of  science  will  find  abundant  interest  in  it  inde- 
pendently of  the  beauty  it  affords.  In  our  description  we  have 
adopted  Dr.  Darlington's  sketch,  because  it  agrees  so  remarkably 
with  our  drawing,  which  is  also  from  a  Pennsylvanian  plant,  though 
he  has  not  described  it  under  its  present  name.  Dr.  Darling- 
ton says:  "I  have  specimens  from  the  South  of  C.  angustifolia 
with  really  narrow  lance-linear  leaves;  yet  ours  with  its  lanceolate 


COMMELVNA    VIRGINICA. COMMON    DAY-FLOWER.  II9 

leaves  seems  to  be  referred  to  the  same  species.  Three  of  the 
anthers  are  comparatively  abortive  and  cross-shaped, — and  a 
fourth  one  is  partially  so  modified,  or  in  process  of  metamorphosis 
to  that  state  ;  "  but  it  is  now  conceded  that  the  species  is  variable, 
and  that  C.  angustifolia  of  Michaux  is  the  same  as  C.  Virginica 
of  Linnaeus.  Elliott,  an  early  botanist,  named  another  form  C. 
erccta,  and  this  is  also  referred  to  our  present  species, — the  C. 
crccta  of  Linnaeus  being  another  and  distinct  one.  What  with 
variations  and  synonyms,  the  student  may  have  some  trouble  in 
identifying  his  collections.  It  is  only  in  quite  recent  times  that 
botanists  themselves  seem  to  have  agreed  on  the  identities  of 
these  variations, — and  if  the  student  is  not  one  inclined  to  believe 
that  facts  accurately  told  are  just  as  w^ell  at  least  as  those 
inaccurately  given,  and  is  satisfied  to  be  "  not  wise  beyond  what 
is  written,"  he  will  have  some  trouble  in  reconciling  some  of  the 
statements  connected  with  its  family  history.  Dr.  Gray,  in  his 
"Manual,"  gives  Dillenius  as  the  author  of  the  name  Conimdyna, 
"  dedicated  to  the  early  Dutch  botanists,  J.  and  G.  Commelyn," — 
but  in  his  "  School  Botany  "  he  tells  us  that  Linnaeus  named  the 
genus  for  more  than  two  of  them.  "There  were  three  Com- 
melyns,  Dutch  botanists;  two  of  them  were  authors,  the  other 
published  nothing.  In  naming  this  genus  for  them,  Linnaeus  is 
understood  to  have  designated  the  two  former  by  the  full- 
developed  petals,  the  latter  by  the  smaller  or  ab-ortive  petal." 
Linnasus,  however,  In  his  Genera  Plantanun,  credits  Plumlerwith 
the  aud.orshlp  of  the  name,  who  published  a  work  on  American 
plants  in  1 703,  while  Dillenius,  who  was  Professor  of  Botany 
in  the  University  of  Oxford,  issued  his  "  Hortus  Elthamensis  " 
in  1732, — and  Milne,  in  his  "Dictionary"  of  1770,  states 
that  "Plumier  named  this  genus  Covwiclina,  from  John  Com- 
melln,  a  Dutchman,  Professor  of  Botany  at  Amsterdam,  and 
author  of  two  botanical  works,  entided,  Hcsperidcs  Bclgicc  and 
Hortus  Anistclodanicnsisr  All  the  old  botanists  gave  the  ortho- 
graphy as  Commelina,  modern  botanists  always  use  Commelyna. 
Dr.  Gray  adopts   the  latter  in  his  "  Manual ;  "  but  in  his  "  School 


I20  COMMELYNA    VIRGINICA. COMMON    DAY-FLOWER, 

Botany  "  he  has  it  Commelyina — the  latter  doubtless  an  oversight, 
but  a  curious  one  as  though  intended  to  combine  both  forms. 
The  student  may  learn  from  this  little  sketch  of  the  family  name 
that  it  requires  great  care  in  history  to  avoid  error,  and  tliat  it 
is  always  well  not  to  take  even  the  most  careful  authorities 
in  final  judgment  when  any  opportunity  offers  for  review. 

Commclyna  has  been  taken  as  the  type  of  the  natural  order 
Commelynacece,  the  only  other  genus  of  the  order  in  our  country 
being  Tradcscantia,  and  these  are  particularly  interesting  through 
being  the  most  northern  representatives  of  the  order.  It  is  not 
a  very  extensive  family,  there  being  not  more  than  two  dozen 
good  genera  in  the  whole ;  but  of  these  the  chief  are  inhabitants 
of  the  East  and  West  Indies.  The  order  is  also  well  represented 
in  Africa.  It  is  one  of  great  interest  to  botanists,  as  being  an 
advance  from  simpler  organisms  towards  true  Lilies.  There  is, 
however,  a  distinct  calyx  and  corolla,  while  in  the  six  parted  peri- 
anth of  the  true  Lily  these  distinctions  are  nearly  abolished. 
From  its  neighbor  Tradcscantia  it  is  readily  distinguished  by  its 
irregular  corolla.  In  the  latter  the  petals  are  of  one  uniform 
size,  and  set  at  regular  distances  from  one  another. 

The  roots  of  our  common  day-flower  make  a  nutritious  vege- 
table when  cooked,  but  it  is  not  in  use  because  other  vegetables 
of  a  similar  character  successfully  compete  with  it. 

It  is  found  along  the  eastern  seaboard  States  from  Florida  to 
New  York,  thence  westwardly  to  Michigan,  and  southwardly  east 
of  the  Mississippi  river. 


Nymphs  A  flava. 


NYMPH/EA    FLAVA. 
AUDUBON'S   YELLOW    WATER-LILY. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  NYMPHACE^. 


Nymph^A  FLAVA,  Leitner. — Root-stock  erect.     Leaves  ovate-orbicular,  spotted,  lobes  sharp- 
pointed.     Flowers,  yellow.     (Mrs.  Mary  Treat,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  vol.  55,  p.  365.) 


N  Thomas  Moore's  delicious  poem,  Lalla  Rookh,  he  tells 
us  of 

"  Those  virgin  lilies  all  the  night 

Bathing  their  beauties  in  the  lake, 
That  they  may  rise  more  fresh  and  bright 
When  their  beloved  Sun's  awake." 


This  is  in  allusion  to  the  well-known  fact  that  the  flowers 
of  the  water-lily  open  early  in  the  morning  about  sunrise, 
and  close  before  the  evening  time.  But  if  we  carry  the 
imagery  further  than  the  poet  intended,  we  may  say  of  the 
present  species  that  it  has  been  bathing  its  beauty  in  a  very  long 
night  in  the  Florida  lakes,  for  only  recently  have  we  had  any 
certain  knowledge  of  its  existence,  and  this  through  the  keen 
investigations  of  a  noted  botanist,  Mrs.  Mary  Treat,  of  Vine- 
land,  New  Jersey,  who  gave  us  the  first  detailed  account  of  it  in 
the  number  of  "  Harper's  Magazine  "  above  cited.  Botanists, 
however,  were  made  partially  acquainted  with  it  through  a  colored 
drawing  in  Audubon's  "Birds  of  America,"  published  in  1843. 
In  his  picture  No.  41 1  he  represents  a  swan,  Cygmts  Americanus, 
swimming  among  a  lot  of  yellow  water-lilies,  which  he  calls 
''NymphcBa  flava,  Leitner."  This  swan  is  an  Arctic  bird. 
About    the    middle    of   September  flocks  come  down   from  the 


122  NYxMPII.KA    FLA-.A. AUDUBON  S    YELLOW    WATER-LILY. 

northern  seas  to  Hudson's  Bay,  remaining-  till  October,  when 
they  go  south  to  more  congenial  climes.  Large  numbers 
reach  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  they  find  a  favorite  food  in  the 
Vallisncria  spiralis,  known  to  sportsmen  as  "  wild  celery ;  "  and 
when  the  season  arrives  for  leaving  this  location  they  then  cross 
the  continent  to  the  Columbia  River  and  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  on  their  way  back  to  their  Arctic  home.  Audubon 
says  they  have  never  been  seen  beyond  Cape  Hatteras,  in  North 
Carolina.  As  this  water-lily  has  not  been  found  in  the  waters 
frequented  by  this  swan,  it  is  not  surprising  that  botanists 
reo;arded  Audubon's  lily  as  a  mere  creation  of  the  artist's  fancy. 
Leitner,  however,  is  said  to  have  been  a  young  German  botanist 
who  collected  in  Florida,  and  was  killed  there  by  the  Indians. 
There,  therefore,  still  remained  the  probability  that  Audubon 
had  taken  a  drawing  of  Leitner's  to  assist  his  swan  without  a 
thought  of  the  geographical  incongruity,  and  the  giving  of  Leit- 
ner's name,  Nymphcca  flava,  supports  this  supposition.  Mrs. 
Treat's  discovery  of  this  lily,  in  Florida,  shows  that  Leitner  may 
have  seen  it  there,  though  her  plant  differs  from  that  pictured 
in  Audubon's  work.  In  this  drawing  the  leaves  are  ovate- 
oblong,  and  the  lobes  are  rounded  at  the  base,  of  a  clear  uniform 
green  without  spots,  and  the  yellow  of  the  flowers  is  very  light. 
Mrs.  Treat's  plant  differs,  as  we  see  by  our  picture,  and  only  the 
belief  that  it  must  have  been  the  plant  intended  by  Leitner 
entitles  him  to  the  retention  of  the  name  he  gave  it. 

In  "  Harper's  Magazine,"  as  already  cited,  Mrs.  Treat  pro- 
poses for  it  the  name  of  Nyniphcea  lutea ;  but  this  brings  to 
mind  that  Linnaeus  classed  what  we  now  call  Nitpliar,  or  as  it  is 
commonly  called  along  the  Delaware,  the  "  splatter-dock,"  witli 
the  true  Nymphseas  ;  and  that  one,  now  AhipJiar  lutca,  was  Ayni- 
phcsa  lutca  then.  It  is  true  that  in  botany  a  name  'rejected  may 
be  taken  up  again  for  another  species,  but  in  such  a  case  as  this 
It  would  lead  to  confusion  with  a  synonym, — an  evil  botanists 
endeavor  to  avoid.  It  may  be  remarked  here  that  there  is  no 
o-reat    difference    between    Ahiphar  and    Nymphcra,    except    in 


NVMPH.^A    FLAVA. AUDUBON  S    YELLOW    WATER-LILY.  I  23 

general  appearance,  the  chief  distinction  being  in  the  connection 
of  the  seeds  with  the  placenta,  or  material  out  of  which  the 
seeds  seem  to  grow.  In  the  true  NyiupJuca  there  is  a  fleshy 
matter  proceeding  from  the  placenta  between  it  and  the  seed, 
called  the  arillus,  which  in  NyinphcEa  encloses  the  seed.  In 
NitpJiar  this  is  wanting.  There  are  other  differing  characters 
in  the  pistil,  the  stamens,  and  the  petals,  but  not  greater  than 
we  often  find  in  the  sub-divisions  of  other  genera. 

Supposing  the  subject  of  our  chapter  to  have  been  the  same 
species  as  Leitner  saw,  we  may  speak  of  it  as  re-discovered  by 
Mrs.  Treat,  and  her  account  of  the  event  is  extremely  interesting. 

"  Li  the  valley  l^y  the  river 
In  the  bosom  of  the  forest" 

she  found  herself  ready  for  a  journey  up  the  St.  John's,  and  she 
says:  "On  my  excursion  in  the  row-boat  I  was  attracted  to  the 
nearest  cove,  where  acres  of  the  water  were  covered  by  a  beau- 
tiful variegated  leaf  of  a  strange  water-lily,  which  bore  a  yellow 
flower.  I  saw  it  was  a  Nyinpha:a,  but  its  manner  of  growth  and 
its  whole  appearance  were  so  unlike  our  white  water-lily,  that  I 
knew  it  must  be  a  distinct  species,  of  which  no  mention  was 
made  in  the  Text-Books  of  Gray  or  Chapman."  By  the  help  of 
Dr.  Gray  and  Professor  C.  S.  Sargent,  it  was  identified  with 
Audubon's  plate.  Describing  its  growth,  Mrs.  Treat  says  :  "  The 
beautiful  leaves  lie  thick  upon  the  water;  and  in  May,  when  the 
flowers  appear,  it  is  one  of  the  grandest  sights  I  ever  beheld.  It 
growls  in  water  from  one  to  five  feet  deep,  the  length  of  the  leaf 
stems  and  flow^er  scapes  depending  on  the  depth  of  the  water. 
How  far  it  extends  remains  to  be  seen.  I  have  traced  it  about 
forty  miles  along  the  St.  John's,  and  it  grows  all  about  Jackson- 
ville, thirty-five  miles  below  us.  How  it  has  so  long  escaped  the 
botanist  is  a  mystery." 

But  not  only  the  lovers  of  nature  in  her  popular  aspects,  and 
as  she  may  present  them  to  us  in  forest  or  lake,  have  to  thank 
Mrs.  Treat  for  this  re-discovery  of  Audubon's  "  Golden  Water- 


124        NYMPH.^A    FLAVA. AUDUBON  S    YELLOW    WATER-LILY. 

Lily ; "  the  close  student  of  plants  as  well  as  the  more  acute 
botanist  will  be  pleased  with  the  study  of  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  plant  itself  The  "common  white  water-lily"  has  a 
thick  creeping  rhizome  or  main  stem, — in  this  species  the  root- 
stock  is  erect  (Fig.  3).  This  seems  to  be  in  the  main  made  up 
of  imperfectly  developed  leaves,  just  as  the  scales  of  a  true  lily 
bulb  are  formed.  During  the  next  year  roots  come  out  from 
these  scales,  and,  when  they  die,  as  they  do  in  the  following  fall, 
they  leave  each  scale  pitted  as  seen  in  our  enlarged  drawing 
(Fig.  7).  From  some  of  these,  however,  one  thready  point,  at 
first  as  like  a  root  as  the  rest,  proceeds  onward,  and  finally 
makes  a  young  plant  capable  of  flowering  in  the  autumn  of  the 
same  season  (Fig.  4).  From  the  study  of  this  thread  in  its 
early  life  we  may  learn  how  nearly  allied  in  their  nature  may  be 
a  root  and  the  runner,  as  the  thread  is  called  in  popular  language. 
This  young  plant  has  a  remarkable  history.  It  proceeds  onwards 
a  foot  or  so  and  takes  a  short  rest,  but  produces  a  cluster  of 
small  tubers  which  make  no  leaves  that  season  at  least  (Fig.  5), 
and  then  proceeds  with  another  phase  of  growth  terminating 
this  time  in  a  small  plant,  without  the  slightest  trace  of  tubers 
(Fig.  6).  The  exact  purpose  of  these  tubers  in  the  economy  of 
the  plant  is  not  clear,  and  the  solution  yet  awaits  some  careful 
observer.  It  is  evident  that  the  plant  could  exist  and  perpetuate 
its  race  w^ithout  them,  and  probably  quite  as  well,  but  as  nature 
rarely  makes  anything  that  is  of  no  use  to  the  individual,  and 
nothing  that  is  wholly  superfluous  in  the  general  good  of  the 
organic  world,  its  exact  relation  is  worth  tracino-. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  Leaves  and  flowers  from  plants  growing  under  Mr. 
Dawson's  care  in  liie  Arnold  Arboretum.  2.  The  rayed  stigma.  3.  Upright  root-stock  of 
the  past  year.  4.  New  plant  from  the  old  one  on  a  thready  runner  about  a  yard  long. 
5.  Cluster  of  tubers.     6.  Secondary  plant  of  the  same  season. 


Croomia  pauctf^lora. 


CROOMIA    PAUCIFLORA. 
FEW-FLOWERED    CROOMIA. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  ROXBURGH  I ACE^. 

Croomia  PAUCIFLORA,  Toiiey. — Perianth  deeply  four  parted,  persistent,  the  spreading  nerve- 
less oval  divisions  imbricated  in  the  bud.  Filaments  separate,  thick,  erect,  inserted  on  the 
base  of  the  perianth  opposite  its  lobes :  anthers  short,  oblique,  with  the  connective  short 
or  wanting.  Ovary  globose-ovate,  sessile.  Stigma  two-lobed.  Ovules  four  to  six.  Fruit 
follicular,  beak-pointed,  at  length  two-valved.  Seeds  one  to  four,  obovate,  suspended 
from  the  nerve-like,  at  length  free  placenta,  nearly  covered  by  the  fibres  of  the  cord. 
Embryo  minute,  obovate.     (Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.) 

N  giving  a  general  view  of  the  Flora  of  the  United  States 
we  have  endeavored  to  make  the  selections  from  as 
many  different  natural  orders  or  botanical  groups  as  possible, 
so  as  to  assist  the  student  in  his  botanical  studies,  at  the  same 
time  keeping  an  eye  in  the  selections,  to  those  which,  from  their 
intrinsic  beauty  or  other  popular  points  of  interest  commend 
themselves  to  the  mere  lover  of  wild  flowers,  or  to  those  who 
simply  wish  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  polite  intelligence.  But  in 
looking  about  for  a  representative  of  the  natural  order  Rox- 
biirghiacece,  we  are  deprived  of  all  choice,  as  it  has  but  the  single 
genus  Croomia  in  the  United  States,  and  this  genus  is  repre- 
sented by  a  single  species  only,  Croomia  paucifloi^a,  the  plant  now 
illustrated.  Yet  aside  from  this  reason  for  its  present  introduc- 
tion, and  even  were  it  objected  that  it  has  little  beauty  of  coloring 
to  claim  our  attention,  there  are  so  many  points  connected  with  its 
botanical  and  popular  history,  and  so  much  that  is  particularly 
instructive  to  the  student,  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  the  aim  and 
objects  of  our  work  not  to  give  it  an  honored  place  among 
our  "  native  flowers." 

('25) 


126  CROOMIA    PAUCIFLORA. FEW -FLOWERED    CROOMIA. 

Our  first  knowledge  of  the  plant  came  from  the  great  botanist 
Nuttall,    who    described     it    as    Cissanipdos    pauciflora    in    the 
"Journal  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia." 
This  genus,  Cissanipdos,  is  placed  with  the  "  Moon-wort"  family, 
or  Menispcrmacccs,  but  on  fresh  specimens  from  Mr.  Croom  and 
Dr.  Chapman  coming  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Torrey,  he  decided 
that  it  was  not  of  that  family,  but  belonged  to  the  Berberries,  or 
Bcrbei'idacecB,  and  this  of  course  necessitated  another  name  for 
the  genus,   so  he  dedicated  it  to  one  of   the  above  collectors, 
Mr.   Croom,  retaining  Nuttall's   specific   name — Crooinia  paiid- 
Jiora,  or  the  "few-flowered  Croomia."     Our  bibliographic  works 
refer  to  Torrey  in  "Annals  of  the  New  York  Lyceum,"  but  the 
student  will  be   surprised  to  find  that   there   is   no  such  paper 
there ;   and  its  non-appearance  in   that  serial   after  being   read 
before  the  body  is  believed  to  be  the  result  of  a  personal  trouble, 
which  shows  that  even  a  model  of  amiability  may  after  all  be  sim- 
ply a  human  being  with  weaknesses  like  unto  ourselves.     The 
first  description  really  appears  to  be  in  the  "  Flora  of  North  Amer- 
ica "  by  Torrey  and  Gray,  issued  in   1840.     It  is  here  said  of  it: 
"We  consider  this  plant  a  reduced  form  of  Berberidacece :  it  is, 
however,  remarkable  for  its  persistent  sepals,  suspended  seeds, 
and  in  being  apetalous  (having  a  calyx  but  no  corolla).     It  would 
be  impossible  to  determine  from  the  habit  of  the  plant  whether  it 
were  dicotyledonous  or  monocotyledonous  ;  and  the  embryo  is 
so  minute  that  the  cotyledons  cannot  be  disdnguished,  but  the 
structure  of  the  rhizoma  is  exogenous,  a  circle  of  spiral  vessels 
surrounding  the  central  pith."     It  is  here  that  one  of  the  inter- 
esting  facts   about    Croomia   is   developed.      As    most  readers 
know,  the  great  divisions  of  the  vegetable  world — the  monocoty- 
ledons, or  those  plants  with  one  seed-leaf,  and  the  endogf  ns,  or 
those  which  have  the  wood  arranged  without  concentric  circles — 
are  regarded  as  about  the  same  thing ;  as  also  are  the  dicoty- 
ledons, or  those  with  two  seed-leaves,  and  the  exogens,  or  those 
arranged  with  circles  of  wood,  as  in  our  ordinary  Umber  trees. 
But   in   time   it  was   found   that   notwithstanding  the  exogenous 


CROOMIA    PAUCIFLORA. FEW-FLOWERED    CROOMIA.  I  27 

stems  of  Crooiuia,  the  plant  was  really  monocotyledonous,  and 
this  necessitated  again  a  removal  to  Roxburghiacecs,  a  very 
small  order  of  Asiatics,  not  far  removed  from  the  Arum-like 
plants.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  extremely  interesting  to  note 
that  the  Menispeinnaccous  plants,  with  which  our  Croomia  was  at 
first  associated,  though  certainly  dicotyledonous,  often  have  endo- 
genous wood,  and  is  thus  on  the  exact  opposite  side  of  the  scale. 
Yet  another  very  interesting  fact  may  be  noted  in  the  same  con- 
nection. Sachs,  in  his  celebrated  "  Text-Book  of  Botany,"  shows 
that  the  normal  condition  of  Menispermaceons  plants  is  the  tri- 
merous  verticil,  or  one  formed  on  the  plan  of  three,  and  as  this  is 
the  usual  type  on  which  endogenous  plants  are  formed,  it  would 
not  be  at  all  improbable  that  the  early  relationship,  as  suggested 
by  Nuttall,  was  not  so  very  far  away  after  all ;  and  the  student 
will  not  fail  to  observe  that  though  for  systematic  purposes  the 
great  divisions  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  have  to  be  spoken  of 
as  if  they  are  divided  by  lines  definitely  drawn,  they  are  yet  so 
closely  blended  by  nature,  that  there  is  no  doubt  one  has  grown 
out  of,  and  was  once  a  part  of  the  other;  and  it  proves  the  unity 
of  plan  on  which  are  formed  the  many  diversified  features  of 
vegetation. 

Another  very  remarkable  fact  in  connection  with  Croouiia  is 
noted  by  Professor  Asa  Gray  in  the  "American  Agriculturist" 
for  1875.  Some  forty  years  previously  Mr,  Croom  discovered  in 
Western  Florida  a  kind  of  yew,  subsequently  named  Torreya 
taxifolia,  and  underneath  the  trees  were  growing  plants  of  the 
Croomia.  Now  in  Japan  another  species  of  Torreya  has  been 
discovered,  and  also  beneath  this  Japan  species  another  species 
of  Croomia  has  also  been  found  growing ;  and  as  both  the  yew 
and  the  Croomia  are  very  rare,  only  a  few  localities  being  known 
for  them  in  this  country,  the  companionship  of  the  two  in  these 
different  parts  of  the  world  is  among  the  most  wonderful  facts  in 
botanical  geography.  Thus,  though  we  may  not  see  much 
beauty  in  the  plant  itself,  we  cannot  but  be  interested  in  the 
wonderful  story  it  tells,  and  we  may  truly  exclaim  with  Thomson, 


128  CROOMIA    PAUCIFLOKA. FEW-FLOWERED    CROUMIA. 

"And  not  a  beauty  blows. 
And  not  an  opening  blossom  breathes  in  vain." 

Mr.  H.  B.  Croom,  in  whose  honor  this  genus  was  named,  was 
one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  of  Southern  botanists  during  the 
second  quarter  of  our  present  century.  "  Silliman's  Journal," 
during  1833,  34,  and  35,  contains  numerous  articles  from  his 
pen,  which  made  us  acquainted  for  the  first  time  with  many  val- 
uable facts  concerning  Southern  plants.  He  studied  the 
curious  pitcher  plants,  or  Sai'vaceiiias,  particularly,  and  his  mono- 
graph of  them  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  legacies 
to  science.  He  was  born  in  Lenoir  county.  North  Carolina,  in 
1799.  He  was  educated  for  the  law,  but  gave  up  all  for  the 
study  of  natural  history.  He  with  his  wife  and  family  were  all 
drowned  in  the  wreck  of  the  steamer  "  Home,"  off  the  coast  of 
North  Carolina,  in  1837. 


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ASPIDIUM    NEVADENSE. 
SIERRA   NEVADA  SHIELD-FERN. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    FILICES, 

ASPIDIUM  Nevadense,  D.  C.  Eaton.— Root  stock  rather  short,  creeping,  densely  covered  with 
the  persistent  bases  of  the  former  stalks  ;  fronds  standing  in  a  crown,  one  and  a  half  to  three 
feet  high,  thin  membranaceous,  lanceolate  in  outline,  pinnate ;  pinnae  sessile,  linear-lance- 
olate from  a  broad  heavy  base,  deeply  pinnatifid,  the  lower  pairs  distant  and  gradually 
reduced  to  mere  auricles;  lobes  crowded,  oblong,  entire  or  sparingly  toothed,  slightly 
hairy  on  the  veins  beneath,  and  sprinkled  with  minute  resinous  particles;  veins  about  seven 
pairs  to  a  lobe,  simple  or  a  few  of  the  lower  ones  forked ;  sori  close  to  the  margin ;  indu- 
sium  minute  reniform,  furnished  with  a  few  dark  colored  marginal  glands,  and  bearing 
several  long  straight-jointed  hairs  on  the  upper  surface.  (D.  C.  Eaton's  Ferns  of  Ahrth 
America.') 


O  the  thoroughly  informed  and  systematic  botanist  the 
discovery  of  a  new  species  is  unwelcome.  His  herba- 
rium has  been  arranged  according  to  some  favorite  author's  plan 
or  according  to  some  approved  system  of  his  own,  with  neat 
catalogues  or  numbered  check  lists  to  correspond,  when  newly 
discovered  species  appear  and  his  work  has  generally  to  be  gone 
over  again.  The  young  botanist,  however,  works  with  very 
different  feeling.  The  discovery  of  a  new  species  is  a  great 
delight  to  him,  and  much  of  the  zest  with  which  unexplored 
regions  are  searched  is  in  the  hope  that  they  will  yield  the 
zealous  naturalist  something  new.  California  and  the  regions 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  have  been  particularly  disastrous 
to  those  botanists  who  comparatively  few  years  ago  had  per- 
fected their  systematic  arrangement.  This  territory  had  much 
to  do  with  the  suspension  of  the  Flora  of  North  America  com- 
menced by  our  famous  botanists  in  1838, — but  the  hosts  of  new 

plants  found  since  that  time  have  added  the  collectors'  laurels  to 

(.29) 


many  a  distinguished  name.     Amongst  these  are    particularly 
prominent  those  of  two  ladies — Mrs.  Pulsifer  Ames,  and  Mrs. 
Austen — who,  according  to  Professor  Eaton,  first  discovered  this 
fern  "  in  moist  meadows  and  along  creeks  in  the  Sierra  Nevada 
of  Northern  California,  especially  in  a  meadow  containing  also 
the  Darlingtonia  Californica  (the  Californian  Pitcher  Plant),  near 
Ouincy,  Plumas  County;"  and  "from  Berry  Creek  Canon,  Butte 
County,  by  Mrs.  Ames."     Professor  Eaton   named  it  from  this 
location,  Aspidiwn  Nevadcnse,  and  it  forms  plate  X.  of  the  work 
referred   to    for  the   description.     No    date    is   given  with    the 
appearance  of  the  parts  of  this  standard  work,  and  it  may  per- 
haps save  disputes  in  the  future  as  to  the  priority  of  names  if  we 
here  fix  1878  as  the  date  of  Professor  Eaton's  description.     It 
will  thus  be  seen   that  it  is  a  very  recent  discovery  ;  indeed  all 
we  know  of  it  is  from   the  account  given  in   Professor  Eaton's 
work,  and  the  examination  of  living  specimens  from  which  our 
drawing  was  made,  kindly  furnished  by  Professor  C.  S.  Sargent, 
of  Cambridge  Botanical  Garden.    The  name,  however,  is  unfortu- 
nate, as  it  will  lead  to  the  supposition  that  it  is  from  the  State  of 
Nevada,  and  even  so  far  as  the  Sierra  Nevada,  Mountains  of 
California  are  concerned,  Plumas  and  Butte  Counties,  where  the 
ladies  found  this  fern,  are  not  in  the  true   Nevada  but  in  the 
Lassen  range ;  and  thus  the  name  is  still  less  pardonable  than 
that  for  the  New  York  fern,  Aspidium  AToveboraccnsc,  which  is  by 
no   means   a   "  New  York "    fern,   as   the    Latin    name   implies. 
These  two  species  have  a  very  close  relationship  to  each  other, 
and    it   was    no    doubt    this    relationship    which    suggested    to 
Professor  Eaton  a  similarly  local  name.     One  of  the  most  strik- 
ing differences  from  this  eastern  species  will  be  noted  in  the 
short  stout  root  stock,  while  those  who    have  taken  from   the 
earth  the   "  New  York  fern  "  will  remember  the  slender  cord- 
like rhizome  with  the  apex  far  ahead  of  the  fully  formed  frond. 
This  slowly  developing  rhizome  brings  all  the  fronds  together 
in  a  tuft,  and  it  follows  that  the  general  appearance  of  the  grow- 
ing  plant  IS  very  different    from   that  of  its   eastern    relative. 


ASPIDIUM    NEVADENSE. SIERRA   NEVADA   SHIELD-FERN.       I3I 

Then  the  fronds  are  much  narrower,  being  generally  not  more 
than  one-tenth  of  the  length.  In  these  and  other  respects 
however  it  is  probable  the  species  will  exhibit  the  variations  so 
often  found  in  ferns.  Our  plant  differs  in  some  respects  from 
the  one  illustrated  by  Professor  Eaton.  Though  his  description 
calls  for  "a  few  of  the  lower  veins  forked,"  the  drawing  has  the 
upper  and  lower  ones  in  this  condition.  We  find  no  tendency 
to  forking  in  the  veins  of  our  specimen.  The  venation  or 
arrangement  of  the  veins  is  very  pretty  in  this  species.  The 
lower  veinlets  are  nearly  opposite  and  give  a  palmately  branched 
appearance.  In  most  ferns  the  arrangement  is  usually  alternate. 
Like  the  "  New  York  fern  "  this  species  appears  to  be  decid- 
uous. In  the  specimen  illustrated  the  barren  frond  has  already 
faded,  and  the  fertile  one  is  preparing  to  follow.  Our  specimen 
is  undersized  to  accommodate  our  page,  and  hence  only  a  few 
of  the  upper  pinnules  are  fruitful. 

A  very  interesting  circumstance  in  connection  with  the  life- 
history  of  the  species  is  given  in  Professor  Eaton's  work  from  a 
letter  of  Mrs.  Austen.  She  says  that  the  divisions  of  the  pinnae 
of  the  fruiting  frond  are  closed  or  folded  together  early  in  the 
day.  In  the  cool  of  the  morning  they  were  unfit  for  the  botan- 
ical press  from  this  peculiarity.  About  two  or  three  o'clock  of 
the  same  day  she  found  them  flat  and  in  excellent  condition  for 
the  collector's  purposes.  Professor  Eaton  remarks  that  Mrs. 
Austen  had  found  on  subsequent  occasions  the  same  phenom- 
enon, but  was  unable  to  say  whether  it  was  brought  about  by 
alternations  of  "light  or  darkness,  dampness  or  dryness,  or  heat 
or  cold." 

With  the  rapid  development  of  our  railroad  system,  and  the 
increased  facilities  for  travelling,  it  will  not  be  long  before  many 
of  our  readers  will  be  able  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  this 
pretty  fern  in  its  natural  home  as  well  as  by  the  aid  of  Mr.  Lun- 
zer's  admirable  drawing.  In  the  meantime  they  will  be  anxious 
to  cultivate  it,  and  no  doubt  before  long  it  will  be  offered  for 
sale  in  the  catalogues  of  some  of  our  enterprising  fern-florists. 


132        ASPIDIUM    NEVADENSE, SIERRA    NEVADA    SHIELD-FERN. 

Mountain  ferns,  as  a  rule,  are  rather  impatient  of  the  summer 
air  of  the  Eastern  States,  or  of  other  places  at  low  elevations.  It 
is  not  that  they  object  so  much  to  the  heat  as  to  the  dry  air  of  the 
long  summers.  Those  who  would  succeed  with  it  under  culture 
should  therefore  keep  it  in  the  shade  near  some  rivulet  or  foun- 
tain if  such  be  convenient,  or  at  least  under  the  shade  of  a  rock, 
wall,  or  fence  during  the  summer  season  ;  and  in  the  close,  moist 
air  of  a  fern-case  during  the  winter.  Species  which  grow  natu- 
rally on  walls,  rocks,  or  open  places,  do  well  in  rooms  when 
fully  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  unless  it  be  charged  with 
sulphurous  gases. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  A  rather  young  plant  from  a  specimen  grown  at  the  Arnold 
Arboretum.  2.  Portion  of  a  pinnule,  showing  the  venation,  sori,  and  the  scattered 
resinous  dots. 


^ 


NYMPHi5A  ODORATA. 


NYMPHyEA    ODORATA. 
SWEET-SCENTED    WATER-LILY. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    NYMPHACE^. 

Nymph^A.  ODORATA,  Aiton. — Leaves  orbicular,  cordate-cleft  at  the  base  to  the  petiole,  five  to 
nine  inches  wide,  the  margin  entire;  stipules  broadly  triangular  or  almost  kidney- 
shaped,  notched  at  the  apex,  appressed  to  the  root-stock;  flowers  white,  very  sweet- 
scented,  often  as  much  as  five  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter  when  fully  expanded, 
opening  early  in  the  morning,  closing  in  the  afternoon ;  petals  obtuse ;  axil  much  longer 
than  the  distinctly  stipitate  oblong  seeds.  (Gray's  Manual  of  Botany  of  the  Northern 
United  States.  See  also  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Wood's 
Class-Book  of  Botany.') 

EW  flowers  have  excited  the  enthusiasm  of  the  poets  as 
much  as  the  common  lily;  but  among  these  few  our 
pure  white  water-lilies  must  be  ranked,  and  indeed  the  senti- 
ments born  of  the  one  are  often  identical  with  those  incited  by 
the  other. 

Bryant,  in    his  beautiful  poem  of  the  "  Child  and  the  Lily," 
exclaims : 

"  Innocent  child  and  snow-white  flower ! 
Well  are  ye  paired  in  your  opening  hour ; 
Thus  should  the  pure  and  the  lovely  meet 
Stainless  with  stainless,  and  sweet  with  sweet." 

And  though  it  is  probable  that  the  poet  had  the  white  eastern 
lily  in  view,  the  sentiment  is  just  as  applicable  to  our  sweet 
water-lily ;  a  flower  which  the  emblematists  have  dedicated  to 
purity.  Joaquin  Miller  expresses  just  the  same  idea,  when 
he  says : 

"  The  lily  on  the  water  sleeping, 

Enwreathed  with  pearl,  and  'bossed  witli  gold. 
An  emblem  is,  my  love,  of  lliec." 

Km) 


134  NYMPH/EA    ODORATA. SWEET-SCENTED    WATER-LILY. 

The  "  Sleeping  Beauty,"  as  suggested  by  the  water-lily  to 
Miller,  seems  to  have  occurred  also  to  Oliver  Wendel  Holmes, 
who  says  of  it,  in  his  "Star  and  the  Water-Lily:" 

"  What  is  the  lily  dreaming  of? 
Why  crisp  the  waters  blue  ? 
See,  see,  she  is  lifting  her  varnished  lid  ! 
Her  white  leaves  are  glistening  through." 

In  their  descriptions  of  lake  and  river  scenery,  the  poets  make 
frequent  and  good  use  of  the  water-lily.     Shelley  writes  of 

" floating  water-lilies,  broad  and  bright, 

Which  lit  the  oak  which  overhung  the  hedge 

W^ith  moonlight  beams  of  their  own  watery  light." 

And  in  Longfellow's  "  Evangeline,"  we  are  told  that 

"  Water-lilies  in  myriads  rocked  on  the  slight  undulations 
Made  by  the  passing  oars " 

This  pretty  picture  of  the  flowers  rising  and  falling  with  the 
undulations  of  the  ripples  seems  also  to  have  impressed  other 
observers.  In  Mrs.  Hemans'  well-known  lines  to  the  water-lily, 
we  read : 

"Oh,  beautiful  thou  art, 
Thou  sculpture-like  and  stately  River-queen ! 
Crowning  the  depths,  as  with  the  light  serene 
Of  a  pure  heart. 

"  Bright  lily  of  the  wave  ! 
Rising  in  fearless  grace  with  every  swell, 
Thou  seem'st  as  if  a  spirit  meekly  brave 
Dwelt  in  thy  cell. 

"  Lifting  alike  thy  head, 
Of  placid  jjeauty,  feminine,  yet  free. 
Whether  with  foam  or  pictured  azure  spread 
The  waters  be." 

Even  the  ancients  had  an  idea  of  a  queenly  style  of  feminine 
grace  and  beauty  in  association  with  the  water-lily,  for  it  is  to 
them  we  owe  the  name  NyniphcEa,  which  dedicated  these  pretty 
flowers  to  the  nymphs  or  goddesses  who  presided  over  the 
waters.     The  name  is  mentioned  in  this  connection  by  Pliny,  as 


NYMPH^A   ODORATA. SWEET-SCENTED    WATER-LILY.  I  35 

well  as  by  Theophrastus  and  Dioscorides,  two  of  the  earliest 
Greek  writers  extant.  This  ancient  water-lily  of  the  Greeks, 
which  they  named  Nymphaia  letica,  still  grows  where  they  saw 
it,  in  the  lakes  and  ponds  of  Thessaly,  and  is  the  Nymphcea  alba 
of  modern  botany.  Our  species,  Nyinpha:a  odorata,  differs 
from  this  one  of  the  ancients  and  of  the  old  world  chiefly  in 
the  size  and  fragrance  of  the  flowers.  The  earlier  botanists 
supposed  it  to  be  the  same  species,  and  Gronovius  speaks  of  it 
as  the  Nymphcea  alba,  with  "  full  and  sweet  flowers;"  and  Wilde- 
now,  though  recognizing  Aiton's  name  of  A^.  odorata,  remarks 
that  "  it  is  different  only  in  size,"  which  is  not  strictly  correct,  as 
there  are  usually  a  greater  number  of  stigmatic  rays,  more 
strongly  nerved  leaves,  and  some  other  slight  differences. 
Torrey  and  Gray  regard  N.  reniformis  of  Walter,  and  N.  minor 
of  Decandolle,  as  good  varieties ;  and  Rafinesque  gives  others, 
as  parvifloi'a,  rtcbclla,  and  chloriza  (yellow  root).  Besides  the 
variations  in  the  leaves  and  roots,  there  are  shades  of  colors  in 
the  flowers.     It  is  not  in  every  case  that 

"  The  water-lily  to  the  night, 
Her  chalice  rears  of  silver  light," 

as  Sir  Walter  Scott  would  say ;  for  varieties  of  a  deep-rose  as 
well  as  silver  are  often  met  with,  an  illustration  of  which  we  have 
given  in  the  upper  flower  of  our  plate.  The  leaves  and  sepals 
are  often  tinged  with  red,  even  in  the  pure  white  petaled  flowers, 
so  that  the  transition  of  the  whole  flower  to  a  deeper  color  is  one 
that  might  be  expected.  Rafinesque  writes  of  the  rosy-flowered 
kind  as  if  it  were  common  in  "  New  York  and  Ohio,"  and  says 
it  is  not  as  odorous  as  the  white  kind.  Of  special  locations  for 
the  rose-colored  forms  Cape  Cod  and  Falmouth,  Mass.,  are 
among  the  best  known. 

The  fact  that  our  "  white  sweet  pond-lily  "  often  comes  with 
rose-colored  flowers,  so  long  recognized  here,  does  not  seem  to 
be  known  to  the  cultivators  of  flowers  in  Europe,  as  the  recent 
discovery  of  a  rosy  variety  of  the  European  white  species  in  a 


136  NYMPH/EA   ODORATA. SWEET-SCENTED    WATER-LILY. 

lake  in  Sweden  is  thought  by  the  horticultural  papers  to  be  a 
great  and  valuable  novelty.  Another  white  species  of  the  old 
world,  N.  dentata,  also  has  a  red  variety,  so  it  would  seem  that  we 
may  look  for  these  dark  variations  in  any  light-colored  species. 

The  pond-lily  is  not  only  famous  in  poetry  and  in  popular 
history,  but  in  its  more  matter-of-fact  character  has  much  to  be 
proud  of.  Dr.  Riddell,  a  famous  botanist  of  the  past  generation, 
says :  "  The  Nymphcva  odorata  grows  in  Lake  Champlain,  and  its 
juice  is  good  against  inflammations,  burns,  scalds ;  and  the  seeds 
are  good  in  thirst,  vomitings,  and  diarrhoeas." 

Rafinesque  says  that  "its  properties  are  similar  to  the 
NymphcEa  alba  of  Europe,  but  much  more  effective  and 
decided.  The  roots  are  chiefly  used,  and  are  kept  in  shops  in 
New  England."  Of  its  peculiar  composition,  he  says  it  has 
"starch,  mucilage,  sugar,  resin,  ammonia,  ulmine,  and  tartaric 
acid,"  and  amongst  its  powers  is  that  of  "  dyeing  of  a  dark- 
brown  and  black  color  with  iron."  He  says  further  that  the 
"leaves  are  excellent  food  for  cows  and  cattle,"  and  that  "in 
Canada  they  are  eaten  in  the  spring  boiled  for  greens."  And 
the  ladies  will  be  glad  to  know  that  "  the  fresh  juice  of  the  roots, 
mixed  with  lemon-juice,  is  said  to  be  a  good  cosmetic,  and  to 
remove  pimples  and  freckles  from  the  skin." 

It  is  remarkable  how  large  a  number  of  popular  names  the 
water-lily  has  received.  In  the  middle  ages  it  was  known  in 
different  places  in  Europe  as  Swamp-weed,  Swamp-poppy, 
Venus'  Club,  Venus'  Finger,  Hercules'  Club,  Water-can,  and 
Water-socks.  In  our  country,  according  to  Rafinesque,  our 
species  has  beep  known  as  Toad-lily,  Cow-cabbage,  and  Water- 
cabbage. 

Of  the  European  form,  Linnceus  noted  that  the  flower  raised 
itself  out  of  the  water  and  expanded  about  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  was  fully  closed  again  about  four  in  the  afternoon. 

Explanations  of  tme  Plate.— i.  2.  Flower  and  unopened  bud  of  the  common  white  form. 
3.  Opening  bud  of  the  rose-colored  variety,  from  a  specimen  furnished  by  Mr.  Jackson 
Dawson. 


» 


•^- 


'^ 


Lobelia  Feayana 


LOBELIA  FEAYANA. 
DR.  FEAY'S  LOBELIA. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  LOBELIACE/E. 

Lobelia  Feayana,  Gray.— Slender,  a  span  high,  diffusely  branched  from  the  base,  glabrous 
throughout:  leaves  small  (a  quarter  to  half  an  inch  long),  repand-detinculate,  roundish 
or  obovate,  or  the  small  uppermost  spatulate  or  lanceolate  and  sessile ;  raceme  loosely  four 
to  ten  flowered ;  pedicels  as  long  as  the  flower,  twice  or  thrice  the  length  of  the  subulate 
bract:  calyx  tube  and  capsule  broadly  obconical ;  the  latter  two-thirds  inferior,  its  free 
apex  about  the  length  of  its  subulate  calyx  lobes ;  these  only  half  the  length  of  the  tube  of 
the  bright  blue  corolla :  anthers  glabrous  (except  the  bearded  tips  of  the  shorter  ones)  : 
seeds  oblong,  with  a  rough  cellular  coat.      (Grafs  Synoptical  Flora  of  N'orth  America.) 

HEN  the  lover  of  flowers  who  is  not  a  botanist  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  term,  hears  a  botanical  name  men- 
tioned for  the  first  time,  he  is  very  likely  to  ask  what  is  its  Eng- 
lish or  common  one  ?  It  is  not  that  botanical  names  are  really 
more  difficult  to  remember  than  others,  but  that  a  sound  is  not 
easily  retained  while  unfamiliar.  When  once  a  botanical  name 
enters  into  common  language,  no  one  ever  thinks  of  it  as  diffi- 
cult. Thus  in  the  present  case  there  is,  stricdy  speaking,  no 
English  name,  but  the  botanical  name  Lobelia  has  become  so 
familiar  to  all,  that  it  has  been  received  into  every-day  languao-e, 
and  no  one  now  thinks  it  a  name  hard  to  remember.  The  little 
dwarf  Lobelia  of  our  gardens — the  Lobelia  erintis  from  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope — has  made  the  genus  well  known  to  most  of  us. 
The  name  itself  is  rather  an  old  one,  having  been  established  by 
Plumier,  who,  as  Milne  tells  us,  was  "an  ingenious  Frenchman, 
noted  for  his  discoveries  among  American  plants."  These  works 
on  American  plants  were  published  in  Paris,  at  various  times 
between  1693  and  171 3.  Lobel,  after  whom  he  named  the 
genus,  flourished  nearly  a  century  before,  and  was  an  author  of 

(•37) 


138         LOBELIA  FEAYANA. DR.  FEAY  S  LOBELIA. 

considerable  repute  among  his  contemporaries  and  successors. 
Gilibert,  a  French  author,  who,  in  1 798,  pubHshed  a  history  of 
the  plants  of  Europe,  especially  refers  to  Lobel  in  terms  of  re- 
spect. He  was  Flemish  by  birth,  having  been  born  at  Lille,  but 
settled  in  England,  "where,"  says  one  author,  "he  published 
several  learned  botanical  treatises."  He. was  appointed  botanist 
and  physician  to  King  James  the  ist  of  England,  and  died  in 
London  in  161 6. 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  species  which  were  originally 
used  to  commemorate  Lobel  have  been  removed  to  another 
genus,  Scccvola;  and  others,  which  had  been  placed  in  the  genus 
subsequent  to  its  original  formation,  were  left  to  bear  the  honors 
of  the  old  family-name.  Great  numbers  of  species  once  Lobelias 
have  been  removed  to  other  genera,  but  it  is  still  formidable  in 
number,  perhaps  not  less  than  two  hundred  being  still  considered 
as  true  Lobelias.  They  are  scattered  over  most  parts  of  the 
world,  many  of  them  being  found  on  the  American  continent. 
Dr.  Gray,  in  his  "  Synoptical  Flora  of  North  America,"  enumer- 
ates twenty-three,  besides  many  marked  varieties  worthy  of  dis- 
tinctive botanical  names ;  and  it  is  very  remarkable,  considering 
how  widely  the  species  are  scattered  over  the  world,  that  not 
one  has  been  discovered,  as  yet,  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Some 
species  grow  as  far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains.  New  species, 
however,  are  still  being  discovered,  several  having  been  found 
of  late  years,  and  the  present  one.  Lobelia  Fcayana,  is  among  the 
most  recent  of  these  modern  discoveries.  Dr.  Gray  received  it 
from  South  and  East  Florida,  through  Dr.  Feay,  Dr.  E.  Palmer 
and  Mrs.  Mary  Treat;  and  from  the  last  named  the  plants  were 
obtained,  which,  on  the  grounds  of  the  Bussey  Institute,  enabled 
our  drawing  to  be  made.  It  is  said  to  be  remarkably  effective 
among  the  early  spring  flowers  of  this  flowery  land,  and  when 
generally  introduced  to  garden  culture,  will  no  doubt  be  as  great 
a  favorite  as  its  African  relative,  the  common  blue  Lobelia,  which, 
in  so  many  respects,  it  resembles.  One  of  the  greatest  differ- 
ences will  be  noted  in   the  lip,  which,  in  our  species,  is  of  three 


LOBELIA    FEAYANA. DR.    FEAY's    LOBELIA.  I  39 

angular  lobes.  The  garden  Lobelia  has  the  lip  also  in  three 
divisions,  but  these  divisions  are  mere  slits ;  indeed  at  a  little  dis- 
tance the  lip  looks  almost  entire,  and  seems  to  have  a  regular 
semi-circular  outline. 

The  v^^hole  structure  of  Lobelia  is  very  interesting,  and  no 
less  so  the  natural  order  to  which  it  belongs,  Lobeliacece.  The 
plants  of  the  order  are  not  very  far  removed  from  the  Aster 
family  or  composites  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Campanulas  or 
Bell-flowers  on  the  other ;  and  in  connection  with  these  two  afford 
a  very  pretty  lesson  respecting  transition  or  gradation  between 
great  bodies  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  If  we  take  a  single 
flower  of  an  Aster,  we  find  the  single  pistil  divided  at  the  apex, 
the  five  anthers  united  together  with  their  faces  inward ;  the  pistil  is 
at  first  shorter  than  the  anthers,  but  ultimately  lengthening,  and 
pushing  out  as  it  grows  the  pollen  from  the  tube  formed  by  the 
united  stamens.  In  Lobelia  we  have  a  monopetalous  corolla, 
somewhat  divided,  and  bursting  irregularly  on  one  side  as 
composites  do  when  forming  strap-shaped  florets.  The  calyx  is 
generally  united  with  the  ovary,  and  the  calyx  lobes  may  be 
regarded  as  the  equivalent  of  pappus  or  setae,  which  often  crown 
the  seed.  It  is  chiefly  in  the  ovarium  that  we  first  note  any 
great  distinction.  In  Lobelia  the  seed-vessel  contains  numerous 
small  seeds,  while  in  the  composite  there  is  but  a  single  seed. 
But  with  the  numerous  points  of  correspondence  we  might 
expect  to  find  some  time  a  composite  with  more  than  one  seed 
in  the  capsule,  or  a  Lobelioaceoiis  plant  with  but  a  single  one. 
And  this  is  really  the  case  in  the  latter  instance,  for  there  are 
some  few  genera  of  Lobeliacecs  which  have  but  a  single  seed. 
Few  would  ever  mistake  a  Lobelia  for  a  composite  on  a  first 
acquaintance,  yet  we  see  how  difficult  it  is  in  a  search  to  trace 
very  closely  the  essential  points  of  difference.  The  same 
difficulty  will  occur  on  the  other  side  with  Ca7npaii2daceo2Ls 
plants.  If  the  anthers  were  united  here,  and  the  pistil  had  a 
curving  tendency,  instead  of  the  regular  bell-shaped  flower  we 
find  in  Campamda  we  should  have  a  structure  probably  bursting 


140         LOBELIA  FEAYANA. DR.  FEAY  S  LOBELIA. 

on  one  side,  and  in  many  odier  points,  perhaps,  resembling  a 
Lobelia.  In  fact  different  degrees  of  cohesion  of  parts  which 
necessitate  growth  in  accordance,  or  degrees  of  intensity  or 
of  direction  in  the  growth  waves, — apparently  slight  causes — 
account  for  the  actual  differences  which  divide  some  of  the  great 
families  of  plants  from  one  another. 

The  manner  in  which  the  pollen  reaches  the  stigma  and  thus 
fertilizes  the  flower  has  given  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  speculation. 
It  is  only  after  the  pistil  has  pushed  itself  through  the  mass  of 
pollen  that  the  stigmatic  surface  at  the  apex  becomes  exposed. 
It  seems  very  difficult  for  it  to  receive  any  of  its  own  pollen  on 
this  account,  and  the  only  way  in  which  it  can  be  ferdlized  is  by 
receiving  pollen  from  other  flowers  by  the  aid  of  insects.  This 
view  is  held  by  Darwin  and  others.  But  it  is  certain  that  Lobelia 
crimis  will  produce  seeds  freely  when  insects  fitted  for  the  work 
of  bringing  pollen  from  a  distance  are  wholly  excluded,  and  it  is 
well  worth  studying  how  the  pollen,  necessary  for  ferdlization,  is 
carried  to  the  stigmatic  surface.  The  species  now  illustrated, 
L.  Feayana,  is  so  nearly  related  to  the  species  employed  by  Mr. 
Darwin  in  his  experiments,  that  it  has  suggested  this  reference 
to  Mr.  Darwin's  views. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  A  small  plant,  full  size.  2.  Enlarged  flower,  showing  the 
form  of  the  three-cleft  lip.  3.  Pistil,  showing  its  curved  form  and  circle  of  hairs  beneath 
the  bilobed  pistil.  4.  Longitudinal  section,  showing  the  pistil  surrounded  above  by  the 
united  anthers  before  it  has  pushed  its  way  through  them. 


Cynthia  Dandelion. 

RoQTnM 


CYNTHIA    DANDELION. 
THE   DANDELION    CYNTHIA. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    COMPOSITiE. 


Cynthia  Dandelion,  DecandoUe. — Acaulescent;  scapes  leafless,  single,  one-flowered;  leaves 
elongated,  lance-linear,  entire  or  remotely  toothed,  rarely  pinnatifid,  the  primary  leaves 
oblong-spatulate.  Scapes  six  to  eighteen  inches  in  height,  several  from  the  same  root. 
Leaves  some  of  them  nearly  as  long  as  the  scapes,  more  generally  entire ;  when  pinnatifid, 
the  lobes  are  two  or  three  on  each  side,  triangular.  A  variety  in  the  mountainous  districts 
produces  at  length  a  short,  decumbent  stern.  (Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.  See  also 
Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States,  and  Chapman's  Flora  of  the 
Southern  United  States.) 


MONG  the  best  known  plants  is  the  DandeHon,  and 
when  its  yellow  buds  appear  even  children  hail  them  as 
the  harbinger  of  spring.  As  one  of  the  earliest  of  spring  flowers 
it  has  received  particular  attention.  Our  own  poet,  Percival, 
makes  it  an  especial  feature  in  his  well-known  "Ode  to  Spring:" 

"  The  yellow  buds  are  breaking. 
The  flowers  in  meadow  are  blowing; 
And  gentle  winds  are  playing 

Along  the  grassy  vale, 
Around  the  airy  mountain. 
And  down  the  grassy  vale." 

But  the  common  Dandelion  is  not  a  native  flower.  It  came  to 
this  country  with  the  white  man,  soon  made  itself  at  home,  and 
is  now  found  wherever  cultivation  goes.  Nor  is  there  any  allied 
species  of  the  genus  native  to  the  United  States.  But,  in  ancient 
times,  our  plant  was  supposed  to  belong  to  the  genus  Troximon, 
which  is  closely  related  to  Taraxacum,  the  true  Dandelion ;  and 
when  we  see  the  root-leaves  (Fig.  4),  and  the  long,  slender 
achene   (Fig.  3),  it  is  not  surprising   that,   in   the  condition  of 

(•41) 


142     CYNTHIA  DANDELION. THE  DANDELION  CYNTHIA. 

botanical  science  at  that  early  period,  the  Dandelion  should  have 
sueeested  itself.  How  lonQ^  the  name  Dandelion  has  been  con- 
nected  with  it  does  not  appear,  though  as  Troxiinon  Dandalion 
it  is  described  in  Persoon's  works  about  1807.  But  its  supposed 
relationship  to  the  Dandelion  seems  to  have  been  noted  by 
Gronovius,  who  made  it  Tragopogon,  which  is  a  closely  allied 
genus,  and  the  one  to  which  our  common  garden  salsify  belongs. 
The  description  which  one  of  our  earliest  collectors  (Clayton) 
sent  to  Gronovius  is  so  illustrative  of  the  general  accuracy  of 
the  botanists  of  those  days,  that  we  may  do  well  to  refer  to  it  here  : 
He  says :  "  The  flower  is  large,  showy,  of  a  sulphur  color,  the 
stalk  striate;  leaves  long,  narrow,  toothed,  with  soft  spines  set" 
on  the  margins;  the  outer  florets  expand  while  the  inner  ones 
remain  closed  (see  our  Fig.  5),  the  calyx  then  assuming  a  coni- 
cal figure  (see  Fig.  6)  ;  seeds  like  the  purple-flowered  Tragopo- 
gon  but  smaller  (Fig.  3),"  many  of  these  points,  as  we  see,  cor- 
responding'  exacdy  with  our  plate.  At  this  early  period,  how- 
ever, botanical  relationships  were  not  understood  as  they  are 
now,  especially  the  relationships  of  the  composite  order,  and  our 
plant,  after  being  thought  a  Tragopogon,  a  Troximon,  a  Krigia, 
and  Hyoseris,  was  given  a  separate  place  of  its  own,  as  Cynthia, 
by  David  Don,  in  the  "  New  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Society's 
Proceedings,"  in  1829,  and  it  has  remained  Cynthia  ever  since. 
Professor  Gray,  in  his  "  Manual,"  says  Cynthia  is  "  perhaps  from 
Mount  Cynthus,"  and  Professor  Wood  that  "  Cynthia  is  one  of 
the  names  of  Diana."  It  might  be  as  well  to  explain  to  the 
general  reader  that  Cynthius  is  one  of  the  ancient  names  given 
to  Apollo,  and  Cynthia  to  Diana,  and  that  Mount  Cynthus  was 
dedicated  to  both  deities,  so  that  the  derivations  of  these  two 
authors  are  seen  to  be  more  in  accord  than  they  might  appear, 
in  the  absence  of  this  explanation.  David  Don,  who  named  the 
genus,  was  very  fond  of  giving  classical  names  to  plants,  and 
often,  as  in  this  case,  without  any  apparent  reason  for  their  asso- 
ciation with  the  genera  he  selected  for  them.  While  on  the 
subject  of  names,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  common  name, 


CYNTHIA  DANDELION. THE  DANDELION  CYNTHIA.     I  43 

Dandelion,  is  a  corruption  of  the  French,  which  means  "  Lion's 
tooth,"  and  is  in  allusion  to  the  tooth-like  margins  of  the  leaf  of 
the  true  Dandelion,  which  the  root-leaves  of  our  plant  resemble. 

The  Cynthia  Dandelion  is  one  of  the  earliest  flowers  of  its 
season  in  the  districts  where  it  grows.  This  district,  in  a  general 
way,  may  be  described  as  from  Maryland  west  to  Kansas,  and 
from  there  southwardly  to  Texas.  The  flowers  are  often  open 
before  the  frosts  are  wholly  gone;  and  before  March  has  de- 
parted the  "  yellow  buds  "  break  forth  in  all  their  spring  beauty, 
and  clothe  the  meadows  with  their  brilliant  flowers.  In  the 
more  mountainous  districts,  as  noted  by  Professor  Wood,  the  stem 
often  branches  a  little  ;  and,  as  this  character  was  overlooked  in 
the  diagnosis  of  the  first  describer,  that  form  has  been  given  a 
new  name,  Cynthia  montana,  and  it  is  in  this  condition  that  our 
artist  has  taken  it  from  a  specimen  furnished  by  Mr.  Jackson 
Dawson,  of  the  Arnold  Arboretum,  but,  as  it  is  the  same  species, 
it  is  not  worth  while  to  perpetuate  a  separate  name. 

On  critically  examining  Cynthia  Dandelion,  the  student  will 
find  many  points  of  general  interest.  The  root-leaves  will  be 
noted  as  having  the  base  so  tapering  as  to  be  almost  like  perfect 
leaf-stalks,  and  with  the  largest  or  widest  diameter  at  the  end  (Fig. 
4).  But,  on  the  flower-stalks,  this  order  seems  to  be  inverted. 
The  base  widens,  and  the  apex  becomes  more  slender  in  pro- 
portion to  the  distance  from  the  root-leaves  (Fig.  7).  The  soft 
spines,  or  teeth,  however,  remain  about  the  same  size  on  both 
classes  of  leaves.  But,  when  we  come  to  the  flower,  we  find 
that  the  strap-shaped  florets  are  wider  at  their  termination  than 
at  their  bases,  and,  in  this  respect,  take  after  the  root-leaves  in 
their  general  oudine  ;  and  this  lesson  will  be  found  very  common 
in  plants  of  this  order.  All  the  parts  of  plants  are  but  modified 
leaves ;  but  the  phases  of  rhythmic  growth  decide  what  form 
the  new  modifications  shall  take.  When  a  flower  is  to  be  formed 
in  a  plant  of  this  character,  a  wave  of  growth  starts  from  between 
the  root-leaves.  As  the  litde  waves,  marked  by  each  stem-leaf, 
eet  weaker,  the  forms  o^  the  leaves  chanee  in  accordance  with 


144  CYNTHIA    DANDELION. THE    DANDELION    CYNTHIA. 

the  decrease  in  growth  force.  When  this  great  rhythmic  wave 
is  nearly  exhausted,  a  new  current  starts  again  to  form  the  parts 
of  the  flower,  and  we  may  reasonably  look  for  the  same  form  of 
modified  leaves  (petals)  in  the  first  start  of  this  new  wave  growth, 
as  we  found  in  the  first  start  in  growth  of  the  wave  which  formed 
the  flower-stalk. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i.  Branching  stem.  2.  Flower  stem  with  head  showing  the 
expanding  invohicre  in  fiuit.  3.  Achene  with  double  pappus,  the  outer  short  and  scale-like 
at  the  base  of  the  long  hair.  4.  Root  (slightly  tuberous)  with  root  leaves.  5.  Flower,  with 
all  the  florets  strap-shaped,  the  interior  not  yet  expanded.  6.  Faded  flower  showing  the 
conical  involucre.     7.   Enlarged  somewhat  amplexicaul  b;ise  of  the  stem-leaf. 


^^I&^^<  f^^ 


r 


•^^■rl  A ^^/^T^^^■nT^T  o      /t\t  T  a  t  rnn^orMTMino 


CERATOPTERIS    THALICTROIDES. 
THE   HORNED   FERN. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    FILICES, 


Ceratopteris  THALICTROIDES,  Brongniait. — Sori  continuous,  arising  from  two  principal  longi- 
tudinal but  slightly  anastomosing  veins  or  receptacles  on  each  side  between  the  costa  and 
the  margin.  Capsules  lax,  scattered  on  the  receptacles,  sub-globose,  sessile,  obscurely 
reticulated;  annules  very  broad,  nearly  complete,  or  reduced  to  five  or  six  indistinct  ar- 
ticulations, or  quite  obsolete.  Involucre  membranaceous,  continuous,  formed  of  the  re- 
flexed  margin  of  the  frond,  which  are  very  broad,  and  meet  at  the  back.  Seeds  or  spores 
few,  very  large,  obtusely  trigonal,  each  of  the  three  faces  beautifully  concentrically  striated, 
filled  with  an  oleaginous  substance.      (Hooker's  Species  Filicinit.) 


AMES  GATES  PERCIVAE,  one  of  the  sweetest  Ameri- 
can   poets  of   the  early  part  of   the    present    century, 
tells  lis — 

"  'Tis  pleasant  to  stray  in  a  tropical  grove, 
Where  flowers,  fruits,  and  foliage  are  blended  above, 
Where  the  sky,  as  it  opens  so  vividly  through, 
Is  pure  as  a  spirit  in  mantle  of  blue, 

Where  the  wind  comes  perfumed  from  the  orange  and  lime, 
And  the  myrtle  is  ever  in  bloom  in  that  clime. 
Where  the  citron  its  green  and  its  gold  ever  wears. 
And  the  birds  are  forever  caressing  in  pairs  ; — • 
O,  'tis  pleasant  a  while  in  those  groves  to  remain, 
Till  spring  comes  to  visit  and  charm  us  again.'' 

One  might  almost  imagine  the  poet  had  the  modern  Florida 
in  mind  when  he  penned  the  above  lines,  for  in  these  days  of 
easy  communication  with  distant  places,  thousands  of  people  find 
it  pleasant  to  remain  a  while  in  its  orange  and  myrtle  groves,  till 
spring  returns  to  charm  them  back  to  their  northern  homes. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  enchanted  wanderer  among  Florida's 
tropical  groves,  or  the  one  who  delightfully  breathes  in  its  per- 
fumed atmosphere,  who  is  grateful   for  the   modern  means  of 

(145) 


146        CERATOPTERIS   THALICTROIDES. THE    HORNED    FERN. 

transportation  to  this  fairyland, — the  student  of  natural  history 
and  especially  of  botany  feels  equal  gratitude  for  present  facilities 
to  explore  the  inmost  recesses  of  its  forests ;  and  though  it  is  now 
over  three  hundred  years  ago  since  Captain  Jean  Ribeau  gave 
the  account  of  his  "Voyage  to  Florida,"  nearly  as  many  new 
plants  are  discovered  in  this  long  known  land  as  in  some  of  the 
newer  territories  of  the  United  States. 

The  subject  of  our  present  sketch  is  one  of  these  recent  dis- 
coveries. Indeed  the  only  published  note  of  its  existence  that 
we  find  in  American  literature  as  we  write  is  in  the  "Catalogue 
of  the  'Davenport  Herbarium'  of  North  American  Ferns,"  where 
it  is  recorded  as  having  been  obtained  from  "  Prairie  Creek,  in 
slow  moving  water,  Southern  Florida,"  the  specimen  "gathered 
In  July,  1878,  and  donated  by  Professor  D.  C.  Eaton."  The 
specimen  from  which  our  drawing  was  made  is  growing  in  the 
greenhouse  of  the  Arnold  Arboretum,  near  Boston,  under  the 
charge  of  Mr.  Jackson  Dawson.  As  it  has  not,  therefore,  found 
its  way  into  our  books  of  reference,  we  have  had  to  go  to  a 
European  source  for  the  description  already  cited,  which  is  of 
the  genus.  As  there  is  only  one  known,  it  does  for  the  specific 
character  as  well. 

Though  a  new  discovery  among  the  "  Flowers  and  Ferns  of 
the  United  States,"  it  has  been  long  known  to  botanists,  having 
been  figured  by  the  old  English  author,  Plukenet,  before  the  time 
of  Linnaeus.  Indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  most  widely  extended  of 
all  ferns,  being  found  in  the  warmer  parts  of  all  the  four  quarters 
of  our  globe.  To  Linnaeus,  however,  it  seems  to  have  been 
known  only  as  a  native  of  Ceylon  in  the  East  Indies,  and  the 
knowledge  we  have  of  its  world-wide  extension  shows  what  great 
progress  geographical  botany  has  made.  In  his  time,  too,  it  was 
known  as  Acrostichum  thalidroides,  for  the  natural  relationships 
of  ferns  were  not  .known  very  well  at  that  time,  and  it  is  chiefly 
within  the  past  fifty  years  that  the  large  fern-genera  of  the  early 
fathers  of  modern  botany  have  been  broken  up  into  sections  con- 
venient for  more  perfect  study.     Even  so  late  as  1 789,  w-hen  the 


CERATOPTERIS    THALICTROIDES. THE    HORNED    FERN.  I  47 

natural  system  of  Botany  was  made  popular  by  the  labors  of  A. 
L.  de  Jussieu,  and  the  more  natural  groups  of  species  gathered 
into  distinct  bodies,  this  great  author  enumerates  only  fourteen 
genera  in  all  the  large  family  of  ferns.  The  separation  from 
Acrostic/mm  and  formation  into  a  separate  genus  as  Ccratopteris 
dates  from  1821,  by  Brongniart,  who  described  and  named  it  in 
a  French  work,  the  "  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Philomatique,"  but 
some  authors  contend  that  Kaulfuss  had  named  and  described 
it  as  Etiobocarpus,  a  little  before  this,  and  so  the  plant  has  to  be 
sought  for  in  some  European  works  under  this  name.  However, 
Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  insists  on  Ccratopteris  as  being  the  prior,  and 
hence  the  correct  name.  Ccratopteris  is  derived  from  two  Greek 
words  meaning  "  horned  "  and  "  Fern,"  and  this  name  was  evi- 
dently suggested  by  the  reflexed  margins  of  the  frond  meeting 
at  the  back,  as  noted  in  the  description,  which  give  the  sori  the 
appearance  of  being  enclosed  in  a  hollow  horn.  To  some  of 
the  older  botanists  it  was  known  as  Acrostichum  siliqicostu??,  the 
specific  name  having  been  suggested  by  the  same  circumstance, 
that  is,  the  rolled  pinnule  appearing  like  a  silique,  as  the  hollow 
seed-pods  of  cruciferous  plants  are  termed.  The  specific  name, 
thalicti'oidcs,  is,  of  course,  from  a  supposed  resemblance  in  the 
fronds  to  some  species  of  Thalictruin,  or  "  Meadow-rue." 

The  anatomical  structure  of  this  fern  gives  it  a  more  than 
usual  interest  to  the  botanist.  The  rings  which  surround  the 
sporangia  in  ferns  are  nearly  obsolete  in  this,  and  Sir  W.  Hooker 
was,  therefore,  at  one  time  disposed  not  to  regard  it  as  a  true 
member  of  the  fern  family.  Again,  it  is  peculiar  in  being  an 
annual,  while  ferns  in  general  are  perennials,  carrying  over  their 
rhizome  or  root-stocks  from  year  to  year.  Like  annual  plants 
in  other  families,  nature  has  made  up  for  the  shortness  of  its 
individual  life  by  giving  to  it  the  means  of  rapid  propagation. 
The  spores  are  not  as  numerous  as  in  most  other  ferns,  but  they 
have  powers  of  ready  germination,  and  Mr.  John  Smith,  in  his 
"  Historia  Filicum,"  observes  that,  in  the  plant-houses  of  Kew 
Gardens,  young  plants  appeared  wherever  there  was  a  moist 


148  CERATOPTERIS   TIIALICTROIDES. THE    HORNED    FERN. 

surface.     Besides  this,  buds  appear  in  die  angles  of  the  divisions 
of  the  frond,  and,  falHng  at  maturity,  make  distinct  plants. 

In  the  uniform  dnt  of  green  and  heavy  divisions  of  the  frond, 
there  is  absent  the  usual  beauty  of  ferns.  But  WhitUer  tells  us 
that — 

"Art's  perfect  forms  no  moral  need, 
And  beauty  is  its  own  excuse ; 
But  for  the  dull  and  flowerless  weed 
Some  healing  virtue  still  must  plead, 
And  the  rough  ore  must  find  its  honors  in  its  use." 

His  lines  are  especially  applicable  to  this  "  dull  weed,"  which 
has  been  put  to  more  honorable  use  than  most  of  its  sister  ferns. 
Gaudichaud,  a  disdnguished  botanist,  who  edited  the  botany  of 
Captain  Freycinet's  voyage  of  the  "Uranie  "  and  ''  Physician  "  in 
a  French  expedition  round  the  world  in  18 10,  notes  that  it  is 
regarded  as  a  choice  salad  by  the  inhabitants  along  the  river 
Argana;  and  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  states  that,  "in  the  Indian  Archi- 
pelago, this  fern  is  boiled  and  eaten  by  the  poor  as  a  vegetable." 
It  o-rows  in  shallow  ponds  or  in  wet,  marshy  places,  often  cover- 
ino-  the  whole  surface  with  its  green  fronds. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate.— i.  Growing  plant  showing  (la)  perfectly  developed  barren 
frond,  {l/?)  the  growing  frond  and  stipes  of  older  ones.  2.  An  undivided  segment  of  the 
frond  showing,  (2r?)  enlarged,  its  venation.  3.  An  enlarged  drawing  of  a  finely-divided 
pinnule. 


.ARi,^yt. 


ARISy^MA   TRIPHYLLUM. 
THREE-LEAVED  INDIAN  TURNIP. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    ARACE/E. 

Aris^ma  triphyllum,  Torrey. — Leaves  mostly  two,  divided  into  three  elliptical-ovate  pointed 
leaflets;  spadix  mostly  dioecious,  club-shaped,  obtuse,  much  shorter  than  the  spathe,  which 
is  flattened  and  incurved-hooded  at  the  summit.  [Grays  Manual  of  the  Botajiy  of  the 
Noitkeni  United  States.  See  also  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and 
Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.) 

HE  plants  of  this  genus  were  classed  with  Arum  by  Lin- 


nceus,  and  our  present  species  was  the  Arum  triphyl- 
hmi  of  that  great  man.  .  Under  this  name  it  was  known  to  all 
our  botanists  up  to  about  thirty  years  ago.  The  whole  Arum 
family  were  but  imperfectly  understood  by  the  older  students. 
They  saw  that  all  had  a  certain  general  resemblance  ;  but  in  time 
many  new  genera  were  founded,  and  the  present  one,  Ariscsma, 
was  taken  from  Arum  by  Martins,  a  well-known  writer  in  1831 
on  the  Flora  of  Brazil,  and  confirmed  in  the  year  following  by 
Schott,  a  distinguished  writer  on  Aracece.  The  dates  are  im- 
portant to  the  critical  student,  as  in  some  works  Schott  is  cred- 
ited with  the  foundation  of  the  genus.  It  has  puzzled  botanists 
to  know  what  Martins  derived  the  name  of  Ariscema  from.  Ac- 
cording to  Pliny,  Aris  was  the  name  of  some  very  bitter  plant, 
and  it  was  sometimes  called  Arisaron  also.  The  roots  and 
leaves  of  some  European  Arums  are  intensely  acrid,  and  they 
are  believed  to  be  the  same  as  are  referred  to  by  the  ancient 
writers  under  the  same  name.  Ariscema  seems  to  have  no 
meaning  that  is  applicable  to  our  plant.  Some  German  botanists 
believe  the  name  was  intended  to  be  written  Ariscema.  If  it 
were  Arisema,  it  would  mean  "hooded  Arum,"  and  this  would 

C140) 


150     ARIS^MA   TRIPHYLLUM. THREE-LEAVED    INDIAN    TURNIP. 

fit  our  species  very  well,  for,  as  noted  in  the  description  we  have 
adopted  from  Dr.  Gray,  the  upper  part  of  the  spathe  forms  a 
standard  or  hood  over  the  spadix  to  a  more  striking  extent  than 
in  any  other  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  However,  as  a 
plant's  name  is  "but  a  name"  and  nothing  more,  the  rule  is  to 
take  the  orthography  as  we  find  it,  unless  there  be  some  grave 
violation  of  botanical  taste.  In  regard  to  Arum  itself  Linnaeus 
has  been  charged  with  violating  the  laws  he  himself  had  laid 
down.  Rafinesque  says:  "Linnaeus  did  very  improperly,  and 
against  his  own  botanical  rules,  change  the  previous  name  of 
Tournefort  Ajisarttin  into  Ai^inn,  which  is  a  mere  termination  of 
many  other  genera;"  but,  as  we  have  seen,  aris  and  aj^on  are  only 
Latin  and  Greek  names  for  the  same  thing,  and  Linnaeus  was 
within  his  rules  of  cutting  off  all  superfluities.  But  this  reference 
to  Rafinesque's  criticism  shows  how  important  botanists  regard 
the  rigid  adherence  to  rules  of  nomenclature. 

An  interesting  feature  in  our  plant  is  the  variations  in  color  of 
the  spathe  and  spadix  ;  that  is  to  say,  of  the  vase-like  portion  of 
the  inflorescence  and  the  club-like  process  which  occupies  the 
centre.  Sometimes  these  are  wholly  green,  and  at  other  times 
very  highly  colored ;  even  the  leaves  are  often  spotted,  and  in 
these  particulars  it  has  a  singular  coincidence  with  a  near  rela- 
tive, the  Aj'Uju  maculatum  of  Europe,  and  it  may  perhaps  on  this 
account  claim  some  attention  in  connection  with  the  legendary 
and  poetical  allusions  associated  with  that  species ;  for  there  is  a 
leo-end  in  some  parts  of  Europe  that  Ar2im  was  once  wholly 
green,  but  became  spotted  and  colored  by  the  accident  of  grow- 
ing near  the  foot  of  the  cross  at  the  crucifixion  of  our  Saviour. 
Mrs.  Hemans  thus  gives  the  story : 

"  Beneath  the  cross  it  grew  ; 
And  in  the  vase-like  hollow  of  the  leaf, 
Catching  from  that  dread  shower  of  agony 
A  few  mysterious  drops,  transmitted  thus 
Unto  the  groves  and  hills,  their  sealing  stains 
A  heritage,  for  storm  or  vernal  shower 
Never  to  blow  away." 


ARIS/EMA   TRIPHYLLUM. THREE-LEAVED    INDIAN    TURNIP.      151 

The  different  colors  of  the  spadlces — some  Hght  and  some 
dark,  though  most  frequently  yellow — are  much  sought  after  in 
the  English  species  by  young  plant-collectors  in  the  early  Eng- 
lish spring  under  the  names  of  "  Lords  and  Ladies,"  the  handsful 
of  the  dark  ones  being  the  Lords,  while  the  lighter  ones  are  the 
Ladies.  They  were  also  in  the  olden  times  called  "  Wake  Robin 
and  Cuckoo-points,"  these  names  not  having  any  English  mean- 
ing as  one  might  suppose,  but  being  corruptions  of  very  old 
French  names,  unless  indeed  there  may  have  been  some  con- 
nection with  the  flowering  of  the  Ai^um,  and  the  first  visits  in 
spring  of  the  cuckoo,  a  migratory  bird.  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  idea  in  Shakespeare's  mind,  who,  in  "  Love's  Labor 
Lost,"  makes  the  showman  sing  in  the  character  of  Ver, 

"  When  daisies  pied,  and  violets  blue. 
And  Lady-smocks  all  silver  white, 
And  cuckoo-buds  of  yellow  hue, 

Do  paint  the  meadows  with  delight, 
The  cuckoo  then," • 

Some  have  indeed  thought  that  Shakespeare  may  have  meant 
the  yellow  butter-cups  in  this  passage,  because  of  the  specified 
yellow,  but  the  prevailing  association  seems  to  be  with  the  Eng- 
lish Arum.     Clare,  a  well-known  English  poet,  says : 

"  How  sweet  it  used  to  be  when  April  first 
Unclosed  the  Arum  leaves,  and  into  view 
Its  ear-like  flowers  their  cases  burst, 
Betinged  with  yellowish  white  or  lushy  hue." 

The  old  English  names  are  now  nearly  obsolete.  For  our 
plant  in  our  country  the  most  common  popular  names  are  "  Jack- 
in-the-pulpit,"  "  Preacher-in-the  pulpit,"  and  "  Indian  Turnip." 

The  last  name  is  derived  from  the  use  of  the  roots  as  food  by 
the  Indians.  When  raw,  every  part  of  the  plant  is  extremely 
acrid,  and  will  blister  the  mouth  or  tongue  when  applied  to 
either  of  them  ;  but,  when  roasted  or  boiled,  all  of  this  acridity  dis- 
appears, and  the  roots  particularly  are  extremely  nutritious. 
Green  says  in  his  "  Botanical  Dictionary,"  published  in  the  early 


152      ARIS.^LMA    TRIPHYLLUM. THREE-LEAVED    INDIAN    TURNIP. 

part  of  the  present  century,  that  "  It  grows  wild  in  wet  places  in 
Virginia,  Carolina,  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  where  the  savages  boil  the 
spadix  with  the  berries  (see  our  Fig.  4)  and  devour  it  as  a  great 
dainty."  It  is  said  of  the  roots  that  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
bulk  is  starchy  matter  fit  for  food. 

Rafinesque,  from  whom  we  have  already  quoted,  says  that  "  it 
grows  all  over  North  America  in  woods ;  it  is  said  to  extend  to 
South  America  as  far  as  Brazil ;  but  probably  it  is  a  different 
species  that  is  found  there ;"  and  it  might  be  added  that  "  North 
America"  is  very  different  now  to  what  it  was  in  Rafinesque's 
time,  for  our  plant  is  not  known  much  beyond  the  Missouri  and 
Mississippi  rivers.  To  the  eastward  of  this  line  it  is  found  in 
every  State  of  the  Union.  Though  commencing  to  flower  very 
early,  it  may  often  be  gathered  so  late  as  June,  when  the  leaves 
usually  commence  to  decay.  The  berry-like  seeds  are  at  first 
green,  but  at  maturity  become  red  as  in  the  plate.  By  this  time 
the  foliage  has  wholly  disappeared,  and  the  collector  only  knows 
where  the  roots  are  by  the  clusters  of  fruit  standing  on  short 
stalks  just  above  the  ground. 

The  flowers  are  monoecious,  that  is  to  say  the  sterile  ones  are 
by  themselves  in  the  portion  of  the  spadix  at  a  (Fig.  3),  and  the 
fertile  ones  below  at  b.  But  the  pistillate  flowers  are  not  all  fer- 
tile, as  we  see  in  Fig.  4 ;  only  a  portion  of  the  berries  are  wholly 
perfect. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. —  i.  Root  and  lower  portion  of  the  branch.  2.  Upper  portion 
of  the  stem  in  flower.  3.  Spadix  wiih  flowers  male  [a)  and  female  (/')  at  Ihe  base.  4. 
Mature  fruit. 


Geranium  maculatum. 


GERANIUM  MACULATUM. 
SPOTTED  CRANES-BILL. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    GERANIACE/E. 


Geranium  maculatum,  LiniiDSus. — Stem  erect,  dichotomous  above;  leaves  three  to  five  parted  ; 
petals  entire,  twice  as  long  as  the  calyx.  Stem  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  high,  hairy. 
Leaves  two  to  three  inches  long,  marked  with  pale  blotches,  radical  leaves  on  petioles 
three  to  six  or  eight  inches  in  length ;  stem  leaves  on  shorter  petioles,  the  uppermost  subses- 
sile.  Flowers  purple,  large,  subcorymbose.  (Darlington's  Flora  Cestnca.  See  also 
Gray's  Flora  of  the  Northern  United  States,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United 
States,  and  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.) 


O  "general  view  of  the  flora  of  the  United  States"  would 

o 

be  perfect  without  one  of  the  Geraniacese,  so  we  give 
this  now  as  the  prettiest  American  representative  of  this  very 
interesting  family  of  plants.  We  have  not  many  in  America  to 
choose  from,  for  the  genus  Geranium  belongs  chiefly  to  the 
eastern  hemisphere,  where  they  number  a  hundred  species,  while 
there  are  only  about  half  a  dozen  within  all  the  wide  boundaries 
of  the  United  States.  Some  of  the  species  of  the  old  world  were 
well  known  to  the  early  Greeks.  The  name  Geranium,  though 
adopted  from  Pliny,  the  ancient  Latin  author,  is  really  the  Greek 
Geranion.  Geranos  is  the  Greek  word  for  crane,  a  well-known, 
long  necked  bird;  and  as  there  is  some  resemblance  in  the  half 
mature  seed-vessels  which  in  some  of  the  species  curve  down- 
wards from  the  summit  of  their  slender  stems,  it  is  thought  prob- 
able that  the  name  was  given  to  the  plant  by  the  Greeks  from 
this  resemblance ;  and  from  the  name  as  associated  with  these 
drooping  fruited  kinds  we  have  the  common  name  of  "  crane's- 
bill."  Many  of  the  names  of  plants  in  use  by  the  ancients  have 
been  applied  by  modern  botanists  to  genera  having  only  a  distant 

(>53) 


154  GERANIUM    MACULATUM. SPOTTED    CRANES-BILL. 

or  no  relation  to  those  which  bore  the  ancient  names.  It  is 
pleasant  to  feel  in  the  case  of  the  Geranium  that  we  can  be 
really  carried  back  by  it  into  association  with  people  who  lived  so 
many  thousands  of  years  ago.. 

Our  "spotted-leaved  Crane's-bill"  is  closely  allied  to  some 
of  the  European  forms,  and  like  them  may  lay  claim  to  much  of 
the  beauty  of  detail  that  has  made  some  of  them  so  famous.  A 
French  author  remarks  that  "  the  pencilled-leaf  Geranium,  to  the 
negligent  and  careless  observer,  appears  a  simple,  common 
flower ;  but  examine  it  closely,  mark  the  pink  veins  that  mean- 
der in  every  direction  over  its  petals,  sometimes  so  delicate  as  to 
be  scarcely  visible  ;  study  it  well,  and  the  more  you  do  so  the 
more  beautiful  will  it  appear,  and  learn  thence  to  admire  the 
skill  and  ingenuity  displayed  in  the  Creator's  works."  In  our 
species  there  are  not  only  the  delicate  pink  veins  of  the  petals  to 
be  admired,  but  also  the  veining  of  the  leaves, — the  veins  being 
prominent  as  well  as  beautifully  arranged.  This  arrangement 
of  the  veins,  or,  as  the  botanist  would  call  it,  the  venation,  is  of 
as  much  interest  to  the  scientific  student  as  to  the  lover  of  art. 
Very  often  we  can  tell  by  the  veins  the  order  to  which  a  plant 
belongs,  but  in  the  present  case  we  cannot  distinguish  these 
leaves  from  those  of  some  of  the  Rammculus  or  Crow-foot  family. 
The  root  leaves  of  our  Spotted  Crane's  bill  and  of  Anemone  Penn- 
sylvanica,  for  instance,  might  be  mixed  together,  and  it  would 
trouble  the  young  student  to  separate  them.  And  after  all  there 
may  be  a  closer  relation  between  the  plants  composing  the 
Geranacecs  and  those  of  RammculaccB  than  botanists  generally 
would  be  disposed  to  grant.  If  it  were  not  for  the  lengthening  of 
the  styles  or  slender  portion  of  the  pistils,  and  their  union  into  a 
sort  of  beak  which  gives  it  the  "crane's-bill"  character,  there 
would  be  very  little  reason  for  not  classing  the  Geraniums  with 
the  Crow-foots.  Even  as  it  is,  we  have  nearly  the  same  length 
of  pistils  in  Clematis,  and  when  the  Geranium  seed  is  mature 
there  is  the  feathery  tail  which  Clematis  has.  There  are  many 
other  matters  connected  with  the  relationship  of  Geraniums  to 


GERANIUM    MACULATUM. SPOTTED    CRANES-BILL.  I  55 

Other  orders  which  are  of  too  abstract  a  nature  to  refer  to  in  a 
popular  work ;  but  the  student  will  find  the  Geranium  an  ex- 
cellent aid  in  this  attractive  study. 

A  very  interesting  point  in  reference  to  the  Geranium  maac- 
latum  is  the  fact  that,  though  it  is  one  of  the  most  widespread  of 
our  native  plants,  it  shows  very  little  disposition  to  vary  in  the 
most  widely  separated  locations.  It  is  found  almost  everywhere 
from  Canada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
west,  almost  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  often  when  in  open  woods 
in  the  greatest  profusion.  In  Kentucky,  Virginia  and  Tennessee 
it  is  frequently  so  abundant  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  walk  through 
its  herbage.  In  Pennsylvania,  from  whence  our  specimen  was 
taken,    and  which    induced    the    selection    of  Dr.   Darlincrton's 

o 

description,  they  are  more  scattered  through  the  half-shaded 
woods ;  but  still  make  no  mean  show  among  the  pretty  flowers 
which  make  a  woodland  walk  in  that  State  so  pleasant  in  May 
and  June.  The  only  variations  of  importance  are  in  the  shades 
of  color.  Sometimes  they  are  brighter  than  in  our  picture,  and 
then  again  they  are  often  found  nearly  white. 

In  addition  to  its  artistic  beauties,  and  its  scientific  interest,  it 
contributes  in  a  more  material  way  to  the  wants  of  man.  It  was 
a  famous  remedy  among  the  Indians  for  wounds,  ulcers  and  hemor- 
rhages, and  has  been  found  by  many  good  physicians  very  useful 
in  dysenteries,  especially  among  children. 

Many  of  the  old  world  species  have  found  favor  with  the  poets 
and  emblematic  writers  ;  but,  so  far  as  we  know,  Mrs.  William 
Wirt,  one  of  our  most  intelligent  authors  in  this  line,  is  the  only 
one  who  has  given  our  "  spotted  Crane's-bill  "  any  attention.  She 
dedicates  it  to  "  envy,"  as,  she  remarks,  "  it  has  not  much  beauty  to 
recommend  it,  yet  its  retiring  and  modest  worth,  so  generally 
overlooked  for  those  (Geraniums)  admitted  to  gay  saloons,  may 
well  be  supposed  to  excite  something  like  the  envy  of  its  more 
favored  rivals." 

As  noted  in  Dr.  Darlington's  description,  the  leaves  are  often 
marked  with  white  blotches,  and  thus  we  have  the  Latin  specific 


156  GERANIUM    MACULATUM. SPOTTED    CRANES-BILL. 

name  niaadahmi ;  but  it  is  well  that  we  have  come  to  look  on  the 
names  of  plants  as  mere  names,  and  nothing  more,  for  very  often 
the  student  would  be  unable  to  find  any  "spots"  to  warrant  the 
"maculate"  designation. 


CENOTHERA    MISSOURIENSIS. 
LARGE-FRUITED    EVENING   PRIMROSE. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  ONAGRACEyE. 


QiNOTHERA  MissOURiENSis,  Sims. — Simple,  decumbent ;  leaves  coriaceous,  lanceolate,  acute, 
short-acuminate,  petiolate,  sub-entire,  downy,  canescent  when  young;  flowers  very 
large,  axillary ;  calyx-tube  three  or  four  times  longer  than  the  downy,  canescent  ovary ; 
capsule  very  large,  oval,  depressed,  with  four  broad-winged  margins.  (Wood's  Class- 
Book  of  Botany.) 


HE  species  of  Evening  Primrose  here  illustrated  is  well 
I  worthy  of  the  beautiful  picture  our  artist  has  made  of 
it.  Of  course,  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  representation  is 
derived  from  the  pretty  red  to  which  the  stems  turn  as  they 
mature,  and  which  makes  a  good  contrast  with  the  greens  and 
yellows  of  the  other  parts.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  find  any  plant  without  some  trace  of  red  about  it, 
but  this  fact  is  generally  overlooked  by  flower  painters,  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  it  should  be  so  disregarded,  as  by  its  use  a  much 
better  effect  can  be  obtained  than  in  the  usual  style  of  flower 
painting,  as  well  as  being  more  just  to  the  good  taste  of  nature 
herself 

The  Evening  Primrose  family  is  a  very  large  one.  Mr, 
Sereno  Watson  in  his  revision  of  the  genus,  in  1873,  made  sixty- 
eight  species  indigenous  to  North  America ;  but  though  among 
them  are  many  beautiful  kinds  there  are  few  more  striking  in  so 
many  respects  than  the  one  we  now  illustrate.  The  size  of  the 
flower  alone  attracts.  It  is  often  much  larger  than  the  one  we 
have  chosen  for  our  drawing.  Some  authors  speak  of  having 
seen  flowers  six  inches  across. 

The  namesake  of  this,  the  common  Eno^Hsh  primrose,  has  a 

(157) 


158       CENOTHERA    MISSOURIENSIS. LARGE-FRUITED    PRIMROSE. 

famous  place  in  English  literature.  English  poetry  is  full  of 
allusions  to  it.  Shakespeare  refers  to  the  flower  in  many  of  his 
plays  ;  and  in  Cymbeline,  especially,  which  is  so  full  of  floral 
references,  Aviragus  is  made  to  say,  after  bearing  the  dead 
Imogen  in  his  arms : 

"  With  fairest  flowers, 
Whilst  summer  lasts,  and  I  live  here,  Fidele, 
I'll  sweeten  thy  sad  grave :  Thou  shalt  not  lack 
The  flower  that's  like  thy  face,  pale  primrose." 

Though  we  have  some  species  of  Primula  native  to  our 
Alpine  regions — that  is  to  say,  primroses  of  a  certain  kind — we 
have  nothing  that  will  fairly  carry  with  it  any  suggestiveness 
to  the  primrose  of  poetry,  Primulas  though  they  be.  Some  of 
the  Qinothcras  have  a  faint  resemblance  in  form  and  color  to  the 
true  Primrose,  and  from  this  fact  we  have  the  popular  name 
Evening  Primrose — "evening"  because  they  rarely  open  when 
the  sun  shines.  This  habit  of  evenino-  or  nicrht  flowerina-  has 
attracted  much  attention  to  the  plant,  and  it  has  received  a 
great  share  of  attention  from  the  poets,  as  well  as  the  original 
"  pale-flower  "  from  which  it  derived  its  name.  Bernard  Barton, 
a  well-known  English  poet,  in  his  "  Invitation  to  Flowers," 
addresses  ours  especially  in  view  of  its  late  opening; 

"  You,  evening  primroses,  when  day  has  fled, 
Open  your  pallid  flowers,  by  dews  and  moonlight  fed." 

The  same  author  has  a  poem  wholly  devoted  to  the  "  Evening 
Primrose,"  too  long  for  our  pages,  but  full  of  happy  imagery,  in 
which  hope  and  trust  under  affliction  are  the  prevailing  senti- 
ments.    He  concludes  the  poem  by  observing: 

'<  But  still  more  animating  far, 


We  hope  that,  as  thy  beauteous  bloom 
Expands  to  glad  the  close  of  day, 

So  through  the  shadows  of  the  tomb, 
May  break  forth  mercy's  ray." 


There  is  one  passage  in  this  poem,  however,  which  deserves 
more  than  a  passing  note,  on  account  of  an  observation  by  one 


CENOTHERA    MISSOURIENSIS. LARGE-FRUITED    PRIMROSE.        I  59 

of  our  earlier  botanists,  as  it  shows  how  the  good  poet  has  to 
observe  as  closely,  perhaps,  as  the  botanist.     He  says : 

"  I  love,  at  such  an  hour,  to  mark. 

Their  beauty  greet  the  light  breeze  chill, 
And  shine  'mid  shadows  gathering  dark. 
The  garden's  glory  still." 

Pursh,  when  writing  of  an  allied  species,  remarked  that  in  the 
darkest  night  the  flowers  could  always  be  plainly  seen,  but  that 
they  appeared  white  then  instead  of  yellow,  and  he  thought  it 
might  be  owing  to  some  phosphorescent  property  in  the  petals. 

Again,  we  may  give  an  instance  of  the  correspondence  be- 
tween poetical  observation  and  the  observations  of  botanists,  in 
a  passage  from  Keats,  another  celebrated  English  poet  : 

"  A  tuft  of  evening  primroses, 
O'er  which  the  wind  may  hover  till  it  dozes; 
O'er  which  it  well  might  take  a  pleasant  sleep, 
But  that  it  is  ever  startled  by  the  leap 
Of  buds  into  ripe  flowers." 

And  this  immediate  starting  of  buds  into  ripe  flowers  has  been 
noticed  especially  in  our  species,  one  observer  having  heard  the 
opening  of  the  blossoms,  so  suddenly  do  they  expand.  Pursh 
tells  us  that  in  his  observations  this  opening  generally  occurred 
about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

In  looking  into  its  botanical  history  there  seems  to  have  been 
some  ill  feeling  among  the  early  botanists  about  the  original 
naming  of  the  plant,  and  the  result  is  that  different  authors  have 
different  names  for  it.  The  first  published  description  is  by 
Sims,  in  the  "Botanical  Magazine,"  for  1814.  A  flower  was  sent 
to  him  from  a  plant  growing  in  Mr.  Nuttall's  garden  near  Liver- 
pool, by  whom  it  was  found  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Missouri 
in  North  America,  and  on  this  he  named  it  CEnothcra  Missoiiri- 
ensis.  Pursh  about  this  time  was  in  London  preparing  for  his 
"  Flora  of  North  America,"  and  had  permitted  Sims  to  examine 
his  manuscript,  in  which  this  species  was  described  as  Qinothera 
macrocarpa.  Sims  supposed  his  plant  different  from  the  one  in 
Pursh's  herbarium.      Pursh's  work  appeared  very  soon  afterwards 


l60       CENOTHERA    MISSOURIENSIS. LARGE-FRUITED    PRIMROSE. 

and  showed  that  Sims'  plant  was  really  the  same  as  his,  and  in- 
sisted on  his  name,  chiefly  because  "  the  specific  name  is  inappli- 
cable, as  it  never  was  found  anywhere  else  but  near  St.  Louis, 
where  Mr.  Nuttall  gathered  ripe  fruit  of  it,  specimens  of  which  I 
have  seen."  Mr.  Nuttall  follows,  in  1818,  with  his  "Genera  of 
North  American  Plants,"  and  sets  aside  both  their  names,  and 
describes  it  as  G^.  alata,  for  no  other  reason  apparendy  than  that 
it  "  more  appropriately"  represented  the  large-winged  fruit  (Fig. 
3).  Modern  botanists,  however,  look  on  a  name  with  no  mean- 
ing as  quite  as  good  as  the  "most  appropriate,"  and  adhere 
stricdy  to  the  law  of  priority  of  description,  and  this  gives  the 
name  of  Sims'  CEnothera  Missoiiriensis  as  the  correct  one. 

Mr.  Nuttall  tells  us  that  it  was  first  discovered  by  Mr.  Brad- 
bury, thirty  miles  from  St.  Louis  "on  the  Merrimac,"  meaning  of 
course  the  Missouri;  but  since  then  it  has  been  found  widely 
extended  throughout  the  Southwest.  It  was  even  collected,  in 
1862,  by  Hall  and  Harbor  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  is  prob- 
ably rare  so  far  north,  as  it  seems  not  to  have  been  collected  by 
subsequent  botanists. 

The  botanical  name  CEnothci^a  is  a  very  ancient  one.  Lin- 
naeus believed  it  to  be  the  "podded  Lysimachia "  of  Theo- 
phrastus,  a  very  ancient  Greek  writer.  Of  modern  botanists, 
Sir  William  J.  Hooker  says  it  is  from  ''oinos,  wine,  and  thera, 
searching  or  catching,  from  the  root  having  caught  the  perfume 
of  wine  ; "  but  our  American  text-books  tell  us  it  is  not  that  the 
root  catches  the  perfume  of  v^ine,  but  that  those  who  ate  the  root 
cauo-ht  a  ereater  taste  for  wine.  The  moderns,  however,  catch 
the  taste  for  wine  so  easily  that  no  herb  is  necessary  to  aid  them  ; 
and,  at  any  rate,  whatever  may  have  been  the  plant  or  the  mean- 
ing intended  by  the  ancients,  we  may  remember  that  it  could  not 
have  been  one  of  our  Evening  Primroses,  no  matter  how  near 
the  relationship  may  be  guessed  to  be,  as  the  genus  CEnothera 
is  wholly  American,  and,  of  course,  was  entirely  unknown  to  the 
Greeks  and  Romans. 

Explanations  of  the  Plate.— i.  One  of  several  branches  forming  a  plant.     2.  An  unopened 
flower.     3.  A  seed-vessci  nearly  mature. 


ASPIDIUM  MUNITUM. 


ASPIDIUM    MUNITUM. 
CHAMISSO'S   SHIELD-FERN. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    FILICES. 


AsPiDiUM  MUNITUM,  Kaulfuss. — Stem  tufted,  four  to  nine  inches  in  length,  strong  straw-colored, 
densely  clothed  especially  below,  with  large  glossy  lanceolate  scales;  fronds  one  to  two 
feet  long,  four  to  eight  inches  broad ;  pinnae  close,  three  to  four  inches  in  length,  three- 
eighths  to  half  an  inch  broad,  the  apex  acuminate,  the  edge  finely  spinulose,  serrated 
throughout,  the  upper  side  auricled  and  the  lower  obliquely  truncate  at  the  base ;  texture 
sub-coriaceous;  rachis  generally  scaly;  veinlets  fine,  close;  sori  in  two  rows  near  the 
edge.     (Eaton's  Ferns  of  North  America.) 


|N  Vancouver's  celebrated  voyage,  Chamisso,  the  botanist 
of  the  expedition,  collected  largely  on  the  northwest 
coast,  and  many  of  the  ferns  of  that  region  especially  were  made 
known  to  us  through  his  labors.  Kaulfuss,  the  German  botanist, 
who,  in  1824,  described  the  ferns  of  this  collector,  named  this  one 
Aspidiwn  miuiitiim.  Professor  Eaton  well  suggests  that  it  may 
commemorate  the  original  collector  in  its  popular  name,  and 
hence  we  have  "Chamisso's  Shield-Fern."  Aspidumi  is  from 
aspidioii,  a  Greek  word  denoting  a  litde  shield,  which  name  was 
suggested  by  the  shield-like  structure  of  the  involucre  or  indu- 
sium,  as  we  may  note  in  our  Fig.  2.  The  specific  name  vmuitiun 
may  have  been  suggested  by  the  munificent  manner  in  which  the 
plant  is  furnished  with  scales,  which  in  strong  plants  forms  a  very 
striking  character.  The  species  is  closely  related  to  the  Christ- 
mas Shield-Fern  of  the  Atlantic  States,  Aspidutni  acrosticJioidcs. 
This  is  also  known  to  be  very  well  clothed  with  chaffy  scales,  but 
not  near  to  the  extent  that  the  Aspidiwn  mnuitwn  is. 

In  a  dried  specimen,  before  us  as  we  write,  collected  by  Dr. 
Edward  Palmer  in  southern   California,  the  stipe  at  its  junction 

(16,) 


I  62  ASPIDIUM     MUNITUM. CHAMISSO  S     SHIELD-FERN. 

with  the  rhizome  is  so  abundantly  covered  with  broad,  chaffy 
scales,  as  to  look  like  the  feathered  head  of  a  bird.  Sometimes 
these  chaffy  scales  extend  a  long  way  up  the  stipe  or  stem  of 
the  frond,  occasionally  reaching  the  foliaceous  portion.  It  is, 
however,  variable  in  these  and  other  respects  in  common  with 
most  ferns.  Judging  by  numerous  specimens  in  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  the  species  is  more  than 
usually  variable.  Ten  years  after  it  was  named  by  Kaulfuss,  it 
was  collected  by  Nuttall  on  Wyeth's  expedition  of  1834,  and  the 
specimens  then  obtained  are  so  different  from  the  original  spe- 
cies, as  to  appear  quite  distinct,  and  are  labelled  in  Nuttall's 
handwriting  "Aspidium  Columbianum,"  which  is  erased  and 
under-written  "Aspidium  Oreganum,"  as  it  was  uncertain  whether 
or  not  to  make  it  a  distinct  species.  And  the  specimens  vary  very 
much  in  the  size  of  the  plants  according  to  location.  Palmer's 
from  Gadalupe  Island  has  a  frond  of  over  two  and  a  half  feet,  with 
a  stipe  of  more  than  a  foot  in  length.  A  small  and  very  narrow 
form  is  marked  in  Nuttall's  collection  'Aspidium  Willamettense, 
from  the  Rocks  of  the  Willamette."  Fronds  collected  by  Prof 
Bolander  from  Oakland,  California,  are  only  about  two  feet  in 
length  in  all,  the  stipe  not  being  much  over  eight  inches.  The 
specimens  collected  by  Bigelow  in  California,  on  the  Whipple 
exploring  expedition,  are  not  more  than  six  inches  long,  while 
others  from  Dr.  Gibbon  are  about  the  size  we  have  chosen  for 
our  illustration.  Our  specimen,  however.  Fig.  i,  as  may  be  seen 
by  there  being  only  a  very  small  portion  of  the  frond  in  fruit,  is  a 
comparatively  young  one,  for  in  mature  plants  fully  one-half  of 
the  frond  may  be  fertile,  just  as  we  find  under  similar  conditions 
the  eastern  Aspidium  acrosticJioidcs. 

P\s,  in  the  case  of  the  Christmas-Shield  Fern  of  the  East,  the 
Western  collector  could  not  say  he  had  to  wait 

"  Till  the  spring  blossomed  again, 
Till  the  birch  first  unfolded  its  leaves  on  the  shore 
And  the  robin  first  warbled  its  strain, 

as  in  the  language  of  the  poet  Percival  he  would  have  to  say 


ASPIDIUM    MUNITUM. CHAMISSO's    SHIELD-FERN.  16'' 

of  flowering  plants  and  many  other  ferns,  before  enjoying  a 
study  of  its  beautiful  form,  for  like  its  Eastern  relative  it  is  ever- 
green and  furnishes  material  in  excellent  condition  for  examina- 
tion all  through  the  winter  season,  and  while  yet,  as  Lowell 
would  say,  there  are 

"  Low  stirrings  in  the  leaves,  before  the  wind 
Wakes  all  the  green  strings  of  the  forest  lyre." 

In  the  correspondence  of  our  botanical  friends  are  many 
references  to  this  beautiful  fern  which  will  give  a  fair  idea  of 
how  it  behaves  when  it  is  at  home.  In  a  letter  from  Dr.  C.  C. 
Parry,  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  who  collected  in  California,  we  find 
'•  In  the  shade  of  Pine  woods  grow  robust  clumps  of  Aspidumi 
munitwn.  In  these  situations  it  attains  its  greatest  perfection. 
It  is  much  in  habit  like  the  Eastern  A.  acrostichoides,  and  like 
that  an  evergreen  when  slighdy  protected  by  snow.  It  is  very 
firm  in  its  texture,  and  when,  as  they  generally  are,  abundantly 
invested  with  fruit  dots,  they  have  a  particularly  rich  appearance." 

Dr.  C.  L.  Andrews,  of  Santa  Cruz,  writes:  "In  moist,  shady 
places  of  our  section  of  country,  we  find  Aspidium  munitum 
usually  in  company  with  Aspidium  argutum  and  Ptejds  aquilcna. 
Sometimes  it  will  find  itself  where  some  litde  stream  trickles 
down  a  gulch  under  the  shade  of  the  Red-wood  {Sequoia  sanpcr- 
vircns),  when  it  is  of  surpassing  luxuriance,  often  three  to  four 
feet  high,  almost  rivalling  the  Woodwardia  of  our  coast  in  size. 
It  will  not  live  long  after  it  finds  itself  in  open  spots,  nor  does  it 
choose  level  places  unless  well  sheltered  and  moist.  When  the 
atmospheric  conditions  suit,  it  is  not  pardcular  about  the  soil,  for 
it  is  found  clinging  to  rocks  and  thriving  in  poor  gravelly  places. 
Moisture  and  a  place  to  cling  to  it  evidendy  regards  as  es- 
sentials." 

Again,  Dr.  W.  A.  T.  Stratton,  of  Petaluma,  on  April  12th,  1879, 
says :  "  Some  of  our  ferns  grow  to  a  great  size  here.  Some 
years  ago  I  came  on  a  group  of  Aspidium  munitum  and  Wood- 
wardia radicans  in   a  deep    ravine    in    Morin   county,   beneath 


I  64  ASPIDIUM    MUNITUM. CHAMISSO's    SHIELD-FERN, 

Sequoia  sejupervirens,  which  were  grand  beyond  conception. 
Each  frond  swept  in  graceful  curves,  some  bending  even  to 
the  ground,  with  a  majestic  beauty  that  thrilled  me,  and  I 
could  not  help  uncovering  my  head  in  profound  admiration." 
Mr.  George  C.  Woolson,  of  Jersey  City,  writes  that  fronds  are 
often  found  "five  feet  high,  and  we  may  regard  it  as  one  of 
the  finest  of  our  North  American  ferns,"  and  he  finds  it  to  do 
well  under  cultivation.  Shirley  Hibberd's  London  Gardeners 
Magazine  for  February  8th,  1879,  states  that  it  has  already  been 
introduced  to  culture  in  the  Royal  gardens  of  Kew,  where  it 
proves  to  be  "  a  handsome  species,  and  very  hardy,  but  being  a 
rarity,  a  select  place  should  be  chosen  for  it."  Dr.  Andrews 
says  "  it  is  often  cultivated  as  a  house  fern  in  California,  but 
then  the  fronds  become  dense  and  dwarfed." 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — i .  A  complete,  but  rather  immature  plant  from  the  collection 
of  the  Arnold  arboretum  grown  by  Mr.  Jackson  Dawson.  2.  An  enlarged  pinnule, 
showing  the  arrangement  of  the  veins,  and  the  disposition  of  the  sporangia  on  them,  as 
also  the  spinnulose  margin.  3.  Side  view,  enlarged,  showing  the  shield-like  indusium 
over  tlie  sporangia. 


:^TENOSIPHON  VIRGATl 


STENOSIPHON   VIRGATUS. 
THE   STENOSIPHON. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  ONAGRACE/E. 

STENOSIPHON  VIRGATUS,  Spach. — Tube  of  the  calyx  filiform  or  almost  capillary,  much  pro- 
longed beyond  the  ovary,  recurved  or  declined  after  flowering,  at  length  deciduous ;  the 
limb  four-parted,  much  shorter  than  the  tube.  Petals  four,  unguiculate,  unequal.  Sta- 
mens eight,  erect,  the  alternate  ones  a  little  shorter:  filaments  capillary:  anthers  oblong, 
fixed  by  the  middle.  Ovary  oval,  one-celled,  with  four  suspended  ovules:  style  erect,  fili- 
form, dilated  at  the  apex  :  stigma  four-lobed.  Fruit  (very  small)  coriaceous  and  indehis- 
cent,  ovate,  convex  externally,  flattish  within,  about  eight-ribbed,  one-seeded.  (Torrey  & 
Gray's  Flora  of  North  America.    See  also  Porter's  Flora  of  Colorado.') 

HIS  innocent-looking  flower  with  a  long  Greek  name  was 
first  discovered  by  Long's  exploring  expedition  on 
the  Arkansas  river,  in  1819.  It  was  regarded  by  Nuttall  as  a 
Gaura,  and  named  by  him  G.  /inifoiia,  under  which  name  it  is 
described  in  most  of  the  works  immediately  succeeding  that  time. 
A  more  recent  author,  Spach,  in  a  revision  of  the  order  Onag7'a- 
cetE,  separated  this  genus  from  Gatira,  describing  it  as  Sienosi- 
phon,  the  name  being  derived  from  two  Greek  words  signifying 
"slender  tube,"  which  is  a  very  characteristic  name  in  view  of  the 
remarkably  long  and  slender  tubes  of  the  flowers.  Up  to  this 
time  there  has  been  no  species  discovered  but  this  one,  and  the 
whole  generic  character  from  Torrey  and  Gray  is  given  instead 
of  the  mere  specific  description  to  which  we  usually  confine  our- 
selves. The  species  is  found  nowhere  but  in  the  United  States, 
and  not  far  beyond  the  location  of  its  original  discovery,  the 
Arkansas,  as  given  by  Nuttall.  Dr.  Parry  collected  it  in  Colo- 
rado in  1 861,  and  it  is  among  the  collections  of  Canby  from  the 
same  region  ten  years  later,  as  noted  in  Porter's  Fiora  of  Colo- 
rado.   In  the  collections  of  Lindheimer  from  Texas  it  is  described 

(165) 


I  66  STENOSIPHON     VIRGATUS. THE     STENOSIPHON. 

as  growing  on  high  prairies  and  in  rocky  soil,  and  Ruffner  says  it 
is  common  in  nordiern  Texas.  One  author  refers  to  it  as  being 
a  pecuHar  feature  of  dry  rocky  knolls,  covering  with  graceful 
beauty,  spots  on  which  litde  else  will  grow  at  all,  and  we  may 
almost  imagine  it  furnished  the 

"  Rocks  rich  with  summer  garlands," 

in  the 

" savannahs  where  the  bison  roves," 

and 

" where  the  desert  eagle  wheels  and  screams," 

of  which  Bryant  tells  us  in  one  of  his  poems.  These  arid  parts 
of  our  territory  seem  to  be  its  chosen  home.  The  plant  illus- 
trated was  from  Texas,  and  kindly  presented  to  us  by  Dr.  George 
Thurber.  The  drawing  was  made  quite  late  in  the  season,  after 
the  plant  had  materially  exhausted  itself;  and  the  first  flowers 
were  rather  larger  than  we  have  represented,  and  the  leaves 
during  the  eariy  part  of  the  summer  are  neariy  as  large  as 
weeping-willow  leaves.  It  grows  vigorously  in  good  garden 
soil,  as  if  it  did  not  need  much  coaxing  to  give  up  its  love  for 
its  dry  native  home.  It  does  not  attempt  to  flower  in  Philadel- 
phia gardens  till  frost  may  be  expected  to  appear.  Eut  it  trans- 
plants easily  into  a  box  or  pot,  and  with  very  slight  protection 
from  frost  blooms  freely  all  the  winter  long.  Torrey  and  Gray 
speak  of  it  as  a  perennial ;  but  in  our  experience  it  dies  after 
flowering.  Its  woody  roots  are  probably  decepdve :  at  best  it  is 
perhaps  but  a  biennial.  It  is  however  very  easily  propagated 
by  cutdngs,  and  in  this  way  can  be  continued  by  the  florist, 
without  difficulty,  from  year  to  year.  Its  gracefully  elegant 
racemose  branchlets  of  rosy-tinted  white  flowers  specially  com- 
mend it  to  the  ardstic  designer  in  flower  work.  It  will  be  a 
popular  winter-flowering  plant  when  its  merits  in  this  particular 
become  better  known. 

The  lovers  of  peculiarides  in  structure  will  find  in  the  long 
slender  tubes,  already  noted,  an  interesting  subject  for  examina- 
tion.    They  are  so  long  and  slender,  so  hair-like,  that  if  green 


STENOSIPHON     VIRGATUS. THE     STENOSIPHON.  I  6/ 

they  might  easily  be  taken  without  close  examination  for  pedi- 
cels or  flower  stalks.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  for  what  special 
advantage  to  the  plant  such  a  very  slender  tube  is  designed. 
The  seed  vessel,  also,  is  remarkably  small.  After  the  flower  has 
faded  there  seems  to  be  nothing  left  in  the  axils  of  the  bracts, 
and  only  the  careful  observer,  lens  in  hand,  is  likely  to  discover 
that  perfect  seed-vessels  have  been  produced. 

It  will  also  be  an  interesting  study  in  connection  with  other 
plants  of  the  order  Onagracea',  of  which  the  Fuchsia  and  the 
Evening  Primrose  are  familiar  examples.  The  quaternary  type, 
as  represented  in  the  four  petals,  four  sepals,  and  twice  four 
stamens,  prevails  through  the  whole  order.  In  the  length  of  the 
tube  of  the  corolla  if  not  in  slenderness  we  may  also  find  a 
parallel  to  our  plant  in  many  of  the  family.  The  Qinothera  or 
"Evening  Primrose"  is  also  closely  allied  to  it;  but  while  so 
many  of  this  genus  open  only  at  evening  or  morning,  or  during 
dull,  cloudy  weather,  the  Steuosiphon  is  an  especial  lover  of 
daylight  and  bright  skies. 

Most  of  the  order  Onagracecr  give  great  pleasure  to  mankind 
by  their  beauty.  Our  gardens  and  greenhouses  would  be  badly 
off  without  them.  As  subjects  for  the  artist  they  are  ever  tempt- 
ing his  pencil  or  brush  ;  and  the  artist,  as  his  works  abundantly 
show,  is  as  ever  ready  to  avail  himself  of  their  beautiful  hues, 
colors,  and  elegant  forms.  We  shall  be  very  much  surprised  if 
the  pretty  addition  we  now  bring  to  notice  does  not  become  as 
popular  as  its  brethren,  as  there  is  so  much  that  is  truly  artistic 
to  recommend  it. 

The  order  has  few  qualities  of  any  service  to  man  beyond  this 
simple  gift  of  beauty;  and  the  species  w^e  now  illustrate  is  not 
known  to  have  anything  but  its  beauty  to  attract  us  to  it.  Its 
relationship  to  Gaura,  a  somewhat  extensive  genus,  prevents  our 
attention  being  so  closely  drawn  to  its  solitary  condition,  as  it 
generally  is  when  a  genus  of  but  a  single  species  stands  entirely 
isolated  from  all  near  kindred.  And  yet  there  may  be  some 
advantages  in  cases  of  this  kind,  as  we  can  better  study  the  vari- 


1 68  STENOSIPHON     VIRGATUS. THE     STENOSIPHON. 

ous  Steps  by  which  new  forms  have  been  introduced.  Geology 
shows  that  the  ancient  flora  of  the  earth  was  different  from  ours, 
and  yet  closely  related  to  it.  We  find  also  that  the  members  of 
our  present  flora  vary  under  differing  circumstances  over  the 
earth  ;  and  the  tracing  of  the  connecting  links  by  which  one  part 
is  bound  to  the  other  is  no  mean  element  in  the  pleasure  of 
modern  botanical  studies. 

Almost  all  pretty  flowers  have  familiar  or  common  names  in 
addition  to  their  botanical  designations, — or  they  soon  receive 
them.  Very  often  all  may  see  their  fitness,  but  occasionally 
they  are  inappropriate.  Where  none  has  been  given,  some 
have  been  suggested  in  our  work.  In  the  present  case  the 
plant  has  no  common  name,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  offer  one 
from  a  translation  of  its  Greek  name,  "  Slender-tube,"  that  is 
likely  to  be  popular.  Possibly  in  the  future,  when  its  late 
autumn  attraction  in  the  flower-garden  is  fully  appreciated,  it 
may  be  known  as  the  "  October-Beauty,"  just  as  we  have  a 
"Spring- Beauty,"  a  "Meadow-Beauty,"  and  so  on.  For  the 
present  we  will  content  ourselves  with  "  Stenosiphon." 


I  >-TTM~)(^OrnTT''niT  T  TT  T'K  ^      -5  7T/^T     a  ^^t-vi 


ANDROSTEPHIUM   VIOLACEUM. 
CROWNED    LILY. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    LILIACE^. 


ANDROSTEPHIUM  VIOLACEUM,  Torrey. — Bulb  globose,  tunicated,  eight  to  nine  lines  thick,  exter- 
nal membrane  separate  from  the  interior.  Leaves  four  to  six,  appearing  with  the  flowers, 
six  to  eight  inches  long,  scarcely  more  than  half  a  line  wide.  Scape  two  to  four  inches 
long.  Spathe  of  three  or  four  lanceolate,  membranaceous  pieces.  Umbel  three  to  four  flow- 
ered, pedicels  six  to  twelve  lines  long.  Perianth  violet,  ten  to  twelve  lines  long.  Crown 
three  lines  long.  Style  five  to  six  lines  long,  drawn  up  above  the  crown.  Segments  two  to 
two  and  a  half  lines  long.  (Baker  in  xi.  vol.  of  the  younial  of  the  Linuiran  Society  of 
London.     See  also  Botany  of  the  I\Iexican  Boundary  Commission.) 


IFTER  the  war  which  occurred  between  Mexico  and  the 
United  States,  about  the  middle  of  the  present  century, 
large  tracts  of  Mexican  territory  were  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  by  which  its  lines  were  very  much  extended.  It  became 
necessary  to  have  a  clear  understanding  as  to  the  exact  boun- 
daries between  the  two  countries,  so  a  commission  was  agreed 
upon,  by  which  officers  from  each  should  together  make  a 
survey.  On  the  part  of  the  United  States,  Lieutenant  \V.  H. 
Emory  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  party,  receiving  his  commis- 
sion from  the  President  in  1854.  Competent  assistants  in  the 
various  branches  of  science  were  appointed,  and  full  collections 
of  objects  of  Natural  History  made  ;  and  the  results  of  their 
labors  are  known  in  literature  as  the  "Reports  of  the  Mexican 
Boundary  Survey."  The  Botany  of  the  expedition  was  worked 
up  by  Dr.  Torrey,  and  it  was  here  that  he  first  described  the 
genus  Androsicp/mmi  as  now  understood,  the  name  being  evi- 
dently derived  from  two  Greek  words  referring  to  the  crown-like 

arrangement  of  the  stamens,  so  conspicuous  in  the  centre  of  the 

(160) 


170  ANDROSTEPHIUM     VIOLACEUM. CROWNED     LILY. 

flower.  The  plant  had  been  collected  by  others  some  little  time 
before,  but  its  place  in  the  botanical  system  had  not  been  accu- 
rately determined.  At  any  rate,  our  knowledge  of  it  is  but  of 
comparatively  recent  date,  and  even  yet  we  do  not  know  much 
of  its  habits  or  behavior,  or  what  may  be  its  contribution  to  the 
general  aspects  of  nature  in  the  places  where  it  is  found,  for  few 
collectors  seem  to  have  met  with  it,  and  those  fortunate  ones 
have  not  been  able  to  tell  anything  materially  of  its  local  history. 
This  and  allied  Liliaceous  plants  are  very  interesting,  botani- 
cally,  as  proving  clearer  than  many  other  tribes  do,  the  great 
unity  of  nature.  The  roots,  the  leaves,  the  stems,  flowers  and 
general  structure  of  one  species  are  so  closely  related  to  those  of 
another,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  fix  on  any  certain  and 
definite  line  whereby  to  divide  them ;  and  we  can  learn  among 
these  plants,  perhaps  better  than  among  many  others,  that  what 
we  call  genus,  though  a  natural  and  not  an  artificial  arrangement, 
as  much  so  as  day  is  distinct  from  night,  yet  runs  so  closely 
and  insensibly  into  others  that  we  are  often  justified  in  believing 
that  the  one  has  grown  out  of,  or  has  been  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  the  other.  Now,  in  the  present  case,  its  first  observ- 
ers seem  to  have  regarded  it  as  a  Milia,  a  genus  established  by 
Cavanilles,  a  Spanish  botanist,  in  1793  ;  but  the  "filaments  united 
into  a  crown  at  the  throat  of  the  tube,"  in  such  a  conspicuous 
way,  and  as  well  shown  by  our  artist  in  the  expanded  flower, 
seemed  to  Dr.  Torrey  to  be  grounds  for  forming  for  it  a  new 
genus.  But  how  slight  this  distinction  is  may  be  inferred  from  a 
remark  by  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry,  in  his  "Botanical  Observations  in 
Southern  Utah,"  published  in  the  9th  volume  of  the  "American 
Naturalist,"  when,  referring  to  a  species  of  Milla,  found  there,  he 
says,  "which  exhibits  an  equally  well-marked  corona  (crown) 
sub-tending  the  stamens,  thus  apparently  invalidating  the  dis- 
tinctions which  have  been  relied  on  for  separating  the  allied 
genera  of  Millea:^  As  to  one  of  these  "  genera  of  the  sub-tribe 
MillecB^'  Dr.  Torrey  himself  remarks,  while  establishing  the 
genus,  "  the  Mexican  genus  Bcssera  most  resembles  this,  but  it 


ANDROSTEPHIUM     VIOLACEUM. CROWNED     LILY.  171 

differs  in  the  very  short  tube  of  the  perianth  (the  lower  portion  of 
the  flower),  in  the  tube  of  filaments  having  only  a  short  tooth 
between  the  filaments,  and  in  the  form  of  the  capsule."  But  in 
some  of  the  allied  genera  the  length  of  the  tube  would  not  be 
of  much  consideration.  In  some  unquestioned  Millas,  for  in- 
stance, the  "tube  of  the  perianth"  is  three-fourths  the  length  of 
the  whole  flower,  while  in  other  cases  it  is  no  longer  than  we  find 
in  the  subject  of  our  present  chapter.  We  thus  see  how  difii- 
cult  it  will  be  for  the  student  to  decide  on  the  genera  of  these 
Liliaceous  plants,  when  he  collects  them  for  the  first  time.  As  a 
general  rule  the  union  or  the  separation  of  the  parts  is  regarded 
as  among  the  best  characters.  The  theoretical  structure  of  a 
lily  flower  is  to  have  three  sepals  (the  usual  calyx),  three  petals 
(the  corolla),  and  a  similar  series  of  two  sets  of  three,  resulting  in 
six  stamens  and  three  pistils ;  and  it  is  chiefly  from  the  manner 
in  which  these  various  parts  are  united  or  developed  in  proportion 
to  one  another,  that  characters  to  distinguish  the  various  genera 
are  found.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  ordinary  lily  flower,  the  apex 
of  the  pistil  is  divided  into  three  distinct  parts,  but  in  our  plant 
as  we  see  in  Fig.  2,  the  apex  is  inclined  to  be  capitate,  or  termi- 
nating in  a  little  pin-like  head.  This,  though  there  were  no  other 
characters,  would  at  once  suggest  to  the  student  that  it  was  not 
a  Liliiun.  Then  there  may  be  characters  drawn  from  the 
phases  of  growth,  which,  however,  are  not  often  referred  to  in 
botanical  works,  because  so  much  has  to  be  derived  from  dried 
specimens  wherein  these  life-characters  cannot  be  observed.  In 
many  plants  the  stamens  and  pistils  finish  their  growth  at  or 
about  the  expansion  of  the  corolla;  but  we  see  in  our  plant  that 
the  pistil  is  nearly  complete  long  before  the  stamens,  which  do 
not  take  on  their  peculiar  crown-like  form  until  the  segments  of 
the  "  perianth  "  have  fully  expanded. 

Again,  the  roots  of  these  plants  deserve  more  study  for  botan- 
ical characters  than  they  have  received.  In  our  specimen  there 
were  several  buds  (Fig.  3),  which  seemed  to  indicate  that  new 
corms  may  be  formed  by  offsets.     And  then  at  the  base  of  the 


172  ANDROSTEPHIUM    VIOLACEUM. CROWNED     LILY. 

corm  we  find  a  thick,  fleshy,  root-like  projection  (Fig.  4)  extend- 
ing downwards  larger  than  the  corm  itself,  and  very  different  from 
the  thready  rootlets  appearing  from  the  upper  portion.  Why  so 
much  of  the  substance  of  the  old  plant  should  be  spent  in  form- 
ing this  fleshy  root  is  not  clear,  unless  the  plant  expects  to  get 
repaid  for  the  exertion  in  the  amount  of  moisture  such  a  spongy 
mass  may  draw  in,  and  which,  in  the  dry  places  in  which  the 
plant  usually  is  found,  would  be  very  desirable  when  the  plant  is 
in  flower. 

As  we  have  said,  little  is  yet  known  of  it  from  its  native  places 
of  growth.  Dr.  Torrey  notes  that  his  specimens  were  gathered 
by  Dr.  R.  Gleason,  near  Fort  Arbuckle,  and  that  it  grows  "  on 
hills  and  prairies,  on  the  Rivers  Blanco  and  Colorado  in  Texas," 
and  so  late  as  1871,  Mr.  Watson,  in  Clarence  King's  Report, 
speaks  of  it  as  consisting  of  a  single  "Texan"  species.  But  in 
1875,  Dr.  Parry  found  it  in  Southern  Utah,  where,  he  says,  it  is 
quite  common  on  gravelly  hills  near  St.  George,  and  among  the 
earliest  of  spring  flowers,  to  give  a  character  to  the  remarkable 
scenery.  Our  illustration  is  probably  from  the  same  section  as 
noted  by  Dr.  Parry,  as  the  specimen  was  kindly  sent  to  us  by 
Mr.  John  Reading,  of  Salt  Lake  City. 

It  makes  a  beautiful  picture  as  drawn  by  our  artist  for  the 
plate,  and  it  will  probably  become  a  very  popular  hardy  spring 
flowering  "  bulb  "  in  our  gardens. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. — l.  A  complete  plant  in  flower.  2.  An  unexpaiided  flower,  cut 
down  lengthwise  to  show  the  internal  organs.  3.  The  old  corm  with  young  buds.  4.  A 
thick,  fleshy  root,  proceeding  from  the  base  of  the  old  corm. 


\ 


jif^f^ 


I 


Cassia  Cham^crista.. 

L.  Prang  &  Company,  Boston. 


CASSIA  CHAM^CRISTA. 

LARGE-FLOWERED   SENSITIVE   PEA. 

NATURAL  ORDER,  LEGUMINOS^. 


Cassia  Cham^crista,  Linnseus. — Stems  rather  leaning  or  spreading;  leaflets  eight  to  twelve 
or  fifteen  pairs,  linear-oblong;  flowers  rather  large;  stamens  ten,  unequal.  Stem  one 
to  two  feet  high,  firm  and  sub-ligneous  at  the  base,  much  branched,  often  purplish. 
Leaflets  half  an  inch  to  near  an  inch  long,  minutely  ciliate-serrulate,  sub-sessile;  common 
petiole  about  one-third  of  an  inch  in  length  below  the  leaflets,  with  a  depressed  or  cup- 
like gland  on  the  upper  side.  Flowers  deep  bright  yellow  (usually  with  purple  spot  at  the 
base),  in  lateral  sub-sessile  fascicles  above  the  axils  of  the  leaves, — often  in  pairs,  sometimes 
three  or  four.  Legume  about  two  inches  long,  hairy  at  the  sutures.  (Darlington's  Flora 
Cestrica.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States,  Chap- 
man's Flora  of  the  Southern  United  Slates,  and  Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.') 


HE  familiar  name  of  Sensitive  plant,  in  so  far  as  it  is  ap- 
plied to  this  species,  is  liable  to  mislead.  There  is  but 
a  very  distant  relationship  between  the  Sensitive  Pea  and  the 
sensitive  plant  of  poetry.  The  species  which  suggested  Shelley's 
beautiful  verses,  beginning, 

"A  sensitive  plant  in  a  garden  grew," 

is  the  Mimosa  pudica,  a  native  of  the  more  tropical  regions  of  the 
American  continent,  and  outside  of  the  limit  of  the  United 
States.  Even  in  its  sensitive  features  there  is  very  little  relation 
to  the  true  sensitive  plant,  for  its  closing  motion  when  touched 
is  very  faint  indeed.  The  writer  has  often  brushed  severely 
against  it,  without  being  able  to  detect  any  of  the  irritability  of 
its  namesake,  although  after  many  minutes  have  elapsed  the 
leaflets  seem  partially  closed.  If,  however,  a  branch  be  plucked 
from  the  parent  stem,  the  leaflets  rapidly  close.     It  has  been  a 

(«73) 


174  CASSIA     CnAM.*:CRISTA. SENSITIVE    PEA. 

question  whether  Longfellow  had  this  plant  in  mind  when  in 
"  Evangeline  "  he  says  : 

"As,  at  the  tramp  of  a  horse's  hoof  on  the  turf  of  the  prairies, 
Far  ill  advance  are  closed  the  leaves  of  the  shrinking  Mimosa." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  real  mimosa  has  the  very  sensitive 
nature  the  legend  implies,  but  it  certainly  could  not  be  true  of 
the  Cassia  Chamcecrista.  Poets  do  not  always  draw  their  inspi- 
ration directly  from  nature.  Their  minds  are  influenced  by 
what  they  have  read,  as  the  minds  of  many  other  people  are.  At 
any  rate,  in  no  way  is  our  plant 

"  Like  the  Mimosa  shrinking  from  the  blight  of  some  familiar  finger," 

as  Whittler  puts  it ;  and  only  that  it  is  as  bad  to  change  a  name 
in  general  use  as  to  give  a  misleading  one  in  the  first  instance, 
it  would  hardly  be  worth  while  continuing  Its  "  sensitive"  appella- 
tion. It  has  been  called  "  Partridge  Pea,"  but  this  name  has 
been  given  to  other  plants,  and  Is  therefore  still  more  misleading. 

The  botanical  name,  Cassia  or  Casia,  in  old  works,  is  a  very 
ancient  one,  and  Is  met  with  In  the  writings  of  DIoscorides  and 
Theophrastus ;  but,  judging  by  the  description  of  Pliny,  the  cele- 
brated Latin  writer,  the  plant  that  originally  bore  the  name  can 
scarcely  be  anything  like  our  plant,  and  is  believed  by  some 
authors  to  have  been  something  akin  to  the  sandal-woods.  The 
name  in  connection  with  the  present  genus  appears  to  have 
originated  with  Tournefort,  as  Casse ;  and  with  a  slight  change  in 
orthography,  was  adopted  by  Linnaeus,  as  we  have  it  now.  The 
specific  name  Chamcecrista  was  the  generic  name  given  to  the 
plant  by  Rivinlus,  a  botanist  who  flourished  about  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  before  the  binomial  system  was 
established.  Thus,  we  still  begin  the  name  with  a  capital,  which 
indicates  that  it  once  represented  a  proper  or  generic  term. 

The  genus  is  an  unusually  extensive  one,  embracing,  perhaps, 
three  hundred  species,  and  having  representatives  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe  but  Europe.  They  are  chiefly  tropical, 
and  it  is  probable  that  those  which  are  found  in  the  temperate 


CASSIA     CHAIVLECRISTA. SENSITIVE     PEA.  I  75 

regions  are  immigrants  from  more  southern  climes,  during  the 
long  ages  past.  Of  the  immense  number  that  inhabit  the 
American  continent,  less  than  a  dozen  have  advanced  into  the 
limits  of  the  United  States ;  and  some  of  these,  as  for  instance  C. 
Occidentalism  perhaps  within  comparatively  recent  periods.  If, 
however,  our  Cassia  Chamcscrista  was  originally  tropical,  it  has 
become  a  famous  traveller,  for  it  has  made  itself  at  home  in 
every  part  of  the  Union,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  up  to 
Iowa,  and  Massachusetts.  Prof.  Porter,  indeed,  found  it  grow- 
ino-  near  Denver,  where,  in  all  probability,  it  ventured  since  the 
advent  of  civilization  to  Colorado,  and  it  is  a  good  illustration  of 
its  travelling  capacities.  It  will,  no  doubt,  soon  establish  itself  in 
that  hot  region,  for  In  the  East  it  flourishes  best  In  dry,  gravelly, 
or  sandy  places,  showing  no  signs  of  dissatisfaction,  except  that 
in  the  middle  of  very  hot  days  the  leaves  droop  a  litde,  recover- 
ing, however,  very  soon  after  the  sun's  decline  from  the  meridian. 
N.  P.  Willis,  in  his  poem,  "The  Shunamite,"  says,  that  when 
Hagar  went  forth  with  Ishmael — 

"  It  was  a  sultry  day  of  summer  time, 
The  sun  poured  down  upon  the  ripen'd  grain, 
With  quivering  heat,  and  the  suspended  leaves 
Hung  motionless." 

And  had  this  scene  been  laid  in  the  United  States,  our  Cassia 
Chamcccrista  would,  undoubtedly,  have  been  one  to  do  justice  to 
the  poetry  of  that  sultry  day. 

The  specimen  from  which  our  drawing  was  made  is  of 
Massachusetts  growth,  and  is  very  much  smaller  than  when  found 
further  south  ;  but  it  Is  selected  as  enabling  us  to  give  a  complete 
plant  on  one  plate.  In  the  South  It  Is  very  bushy  and  somewhat 
trailing ;  and  it  grows  remarkably  vigorous,  even  in  poor,  sandy 
soil.  For  this  reason  it  has  been  used  for  sowing  and  ploughing 
down  as  a  "  green  manure  "  In  barren  ground,  and  in  this  capacity 
has  become  quite  famous.  It  varies  very  much  in  regard  to  the 
bushy  or  erect  habit  In  different  locations,  and,  indeed,  in  many 
other  respects,  chiefly  in  regard  to  the  spots  on  the  petals  of  the 


176  CASSIA     CHAM^CRISTA. SENSITIVE     PEA. 

flowers,  and  the  hairiness  or  smoothness  of  the  leaves  and  seed- 
vessels.  In  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  the  plant  is  very 
smooth  in  most  cases.  In  Southern  Illinois  and  Missouri  the 
more  hairy  forms  prevail.  With  all  allowances  for  variation,  it  is, 
however,  not  probable  that  the  colored  plate  No.  107,  of  the 
*'  Botanical  Magazine,"  and  named  Cassia  Chanicecrista,  is  really 
this  species,  as  the  shape  of  the  seed-vessel,  uniform  through  all 
the  changes  of  other  characters  in  our  American  plant,  is  very 
different  in  that  drawing,  as  also  are  some  other  characters. 

The  family  of  Cassia  has  been  celebrated  through  the  medical 
properties  of  Cassia  acutifolia,  known  in  pharmacy  as  the  Alex- 
andrian Senna,  and  It  is  believed  that  our  large-flowered  Sensi- 
tive Pea  partakes,  in  some  degree,  of  the  purging  character  of 
its  relative. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate. —  r.  Upper  portion  of  a  Massachusetts  plant.     2.  The  annual 
root.     3.  Seed-vessel  nearly  mature,  from  a  plant  growing  in  Pennsylvania. 


GYMNDPtRAMMA    a^DTA■^T/^TTT 


GYMNOGRAMMA   TRIANGULARIS. 
CALIFORNIA    GOLD    FERN. 

NATURAL     ORDER,     FILICES. 

Gymnogramma  triangularis,  Kaulfuss. — Fronds  densely  tufted,  six  to  twelve  inches  long, 
dark  chestnut-brown,  glossy,  nearly  naked;  fronds  from  three  to  four  inches  each  way, 
deltoid;  lower  pinnse  very  much  the  largest,  deltoid,  unequal-sided,  the  others  lanceo- 
late, deeply  pinnatifid,  with  oblong  obtuse  lobes;  texture  sub-coriaceous,  powdery  varying 
from  deep  orange  to  white.  (Eaton's  Ferns  of  North  America  ;  and  Botany  of  Wheeler's 
Expedition.) 

T  the  end  of  the  last  century  there  were  few  large  genera 
of  ferns  but  Acrostichimi,  Polypodiuin,  Asplenium,  Pteris 
and  Adiantiim.  But  the  number  of  species  Increased  to  such  an 
extent  that  It  became  a  matter  of  convenience  as  well  as  of  a 
more  perfect  study  to  look  for  systems  of  classification  which 
should  unite  only  those  forms  that  were  structurally  allied,  and 
yet  break  up  the  overloaded  genera  as  they  were  constructed  at 
that  time.  The  Introduction  of  the  natural  system  of  Botany 
helped  the  study  of  classification,  though  Indeed  the  ferns  as  they 
stood  In  the  artificial  system  of  Linnaeus  composed  one  of  his 
most  natural  classes.  Still  with  the  introduction  of  the  natural 
method,  chiefly .  through  Jussleu,  the  classification  of  ferns  into 
genera  was  made  dependent  on  little  more  than  the  form  or 
position  of  the  sorl  or  fruit  dots  on  the  frond.  Thus  to  have 
round  sorl  made  a  Polypodhim,  In  right  lines  an  Asplcnuini,  \\\ 
marginal  lines  a  Pteris,  and  In  terminal  sub-circles  an  Adianhmi. 
It  was  at  length  found  that  the  manner  In  which  the  fruit  dots 
opened  was  uniform  in  evidently  allied  forms,  and  further  that  the 
manner  In  which  the  veins  forked  or  were  developed  also  had 
great   similarity   In   groups  that  might  be   divided  as  separate 


178    GYMNOGRAMMA    TRIANGULARIS. CALIFORNIA   GOLD   FERN. 

o-enera,  and  with  some  other  characters  of  more  or  less  impor- 
tance the  great  family  of  ferns  was  divided  into  numerous 
o-enera,  and  their  study  much  simplified  in  consequence.  Still 
division  has  been  carried  further  than  sound  dividing  characters 
perhaps  warrant, — certainly  beyond  the  point  that  natural  appear- 
ances in  the  species  grouped  into  genera  seem  to  demand ;  and 
while  there  have  been  over  five  hundred  genera  described  by 
various  modern  authors,  it  is  probable  there  are  really  but  one- 
third  of  that  number  which  would  stand  cridcism  from  a  truly 
natural  point  of  view.  Our  genus  GymnogTamma  was  taken 
from  Acrostic/mm  in  181 1,  by  Desveaux,  a  celebrated  French 
botanist  of  the  early  part  of  the  century,  and  chiefly  because 
the  fruit  was  not  only  in  right  lines,  but  was  characterized  by 
the  absence  of  an  indusium  or  membrane,  which  usually  seems 
to  cover  in  part  the  sporangia.  It  was  from  this  peculiarity  that 
the  name  Gymiiogramma  was  formed;  gymnos  being  a  Greek 
word  for  naked,  and  gramma,  wridng  or  lines ;  that  is,  the  lines 
of  fruit  being  naked.  The  species  are  somewhat  numerous,  but 
chiefly  inhabit  tropical  regions.  Only  two  enter  the  limits  of 
the  United  States.  Of  these  only  our  present  subject  has  ven- 
tured far  within  its  borders,  and  this  is  found  from  along  the 
Pacific  coast  from  Central  America  north  to  Vancouver's  Island. 
It  was  first  discovered,  like  so  many  other  of  our  western  species, 
by  the  Vancouver  expedition,  and  named  Gymnogi^amma  tri- 
angidaris  by  Kaulfuss,  who  described  the  ferns  collected  on  this 
voyage  in  his  "Enumeration  Filicum,"  published  In  Leipsic  in 
1824.  Our  knowledge  of  it  is  therefore  comparatively  recent, 
and  we  are  only  now  beginning  to  find  that  several  supposed 
disdnct  species  of  various  authors  belong  to  It.  Sir  W.  J. 
Hooker,  in  his  "Species  Filicum,"  says,  "It  Is  remarkably  uniform 
in  Its  form  and  ramificadons,"  but  specimens  from  different  col- 
lectors In  the  herbarium  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of 
Philadelphia,  show  the  variadons  usual  In  well-known  ferns. 
Mr.  Nuttall  has  specimens  from  San  Diego,  California,  which  he 
thought  deserving  of  a  disdnct  specific  name.      He  labels  it  G. 


GYMNOGRAMMA   TRIANGULARIS. CALIFORNIA    GOLD    FERN.    I  79 

viscosa,  and  this  Mr.  Eaton,  in  a  note  attached  to  the  specimen, 
proposes  to  retain  as  a  varietal  name.  Specimens  from  the  woods 
of  the  Columbia  of  what  Mr.  Nuttall  seems  to  have  regarded 
as  the  normal  form  have  small  and  rather  narrow  fronds  in  pro- 
portion to  the  length  of  the  stipe.  Some  specimens  from  Mrs. 
Elwood  Cooper,  of  Santa  Barbara,  have  fronds  with  stipes  near 
a  foot  in  length,  and  very  broadly  triangular  oudine,  this  some- 
what triangular  form  suggesUng  its  specific  name.  In  speci- 
mens collected  by  Dr.  Edward  Palmer  from  Guadalupe  Island, 
off  the  coast  of  California,  the  stipes  are  not  more  than  two 
inches  long,  with  the  frondose  portion  of  about  the  same  length. 
In  this,  as  in  many  other  species  of  Gymnogramma,  the  under 
surface  is  covered  by  a  powdery  exudation,  and  this  varies  in 
the  specimens  in  the  herbarium  cited  from  deep  golden  yellow  in 
Mrs.  Cooper's  specimen  to  silvery  in  those  from  much  farther 
north. 

Many  ferns  prefer  wet  places,  while  others  seem  as  well  fitted 
especially  for  dry  situations.  Though  this  species  would  be 
included  in  the  latter  class,  it  is  not  insensible  to  the  advantages 
of  moisture.  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry,  who  collected  it  in  California,  once 
told  the  writer  of  this  chapter  that  it  grew  in  great  abundance 
in  the  shelter  of  rocks  and  edges  of  ravines,  where  it  could 
be  well  moistened  by  the  early  winter  rains.  In  southern  Cali- 
fornia he  usually  found  it  growing  in  matted  clumps,  with  fronds 
of  various  sizes  and  degrees  of  development  according  to  the 
season  or  location,  all  coming  up  among  the  remains  of  stalks  of 
previous  seasons.  In  dry  weather  they  all  curled  up  and  exhibited 
litde  but  the  yellow  powdery  under  surfaces,  and  from  these  it 
takes  its  common  name  of  ''Gold  fern"  in  California.  Another 
friend.  Dr.  C.  L.  Andrews,  of  Santa  Cruz,  wridng  of  the  ferns  of 
that  part  of  California,  also  refers  to  its  moisture-loving  pro- 
pensides  as  a  condition  of  growth.  He  says,  ''  Gymnogramma 
triangularis  is  found  in  all  shady  places  where  there  are  cliffs, 
some  moisture,  and  a  rocky  debris  with  vegetable  mold.  It 
clings  loosely  to  the  soil,  and  grows  where  mosses   and  liver- 


l8o    GYMNOGRAMMA    TRIANGULARIS. CALIFORNIA    GOLD    FERN. 

wort  abound.  It  seems  to  grow  largest  in  sandy  earth  among 
decaying  leaves.  In  summer  and  fall  (our  dry  season)  the 
leaves  curl  up  into  little  balls.  But  with  the  first  rain  they  seem 
as  fresh  as  ever,  probably  from  a  new  growth."  These  facts 
will  very  much  assist  those  who  may  endeavor  to  cultivate  it. 


Explanations  OF  THE  Plate,  i.  A  full-sized  plant.  2.  Under  surface  of  mature  frond.  3. 
Enlarged  pinnule,  showing  arrangement  of  the  sporangia.  4.  Pinnule,  showing  the  upper 
surface. 


LONrCERA  SEMPERVIRENS. 


LONICERA  SEMPERVIRENS. 
SCARLET  TRUMPET    HONEYSUCKLE. 

NATURAL    ORDER,     CAPRIFOLIACE.E. 

LONICERA  SEMPERVIRENS,  Aiton. — Leaves  oblong,  evergreen,  the  upper  ones  connate-perfoliate ; 
flowers  in  nearly  naked  apikes  of  rather  distant  whorls;  corolla  trumpet-shaped,  nearly 
regular,  ventricose  above,  Stem  woody,  twining  in  the  same  direction  with  the  sun.  The 
distinct  leaves  in  the  wild  plant  are  elliptical  or  almost  linear;  the  connate  ones  but  one 
or  two  pairs.  Corolla  of  a  live  scarlet  without,  and  yellow  within.  (Wood's  Class-Book 
of  Botany.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States,  and 
Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.) 

NDER  the  names  of  Honeysuckle  and  Woodbine  there 
are  perhaps  few  famiHes  of  plants  better  known  through 
the  works  of  the  poets  and  other  polite  writers.  All  who  refer 
to  them  have  generally  united  in  regarding  them  as  emblems  of 
affection,  and  any  allusion  to  them  in  poetry  is  usually  in  con- 
nection with  this  sentiment.  Joaquin  Miller,  in  "  First  Love," 
describing  the  memory  of  an  early  passion,  says: 

"  She  stands  as  she  stood  in  the  glorious  Olden, 
Swinging  her  hat  in  her  right  hand  dimpled; 
The  other  hand  toys  with  a  honeysuckle 
That  has  tip-toed  up  and  is  trying  to  kiss  her." 

But  much  of  the  poetry  of  the  Honeysuckle  refers  to  its  aid  in 
giving  the  cosy  character  to  an  English  cottage,  and  to  the 
adornment  of  arbors  and  bowers.  In  his  advice  to  young 
damsels,  not  to  believe  too  easily  what  every  wooer  tells 
them,  Thomson,  in  his  "  Seasons,"  says : 

"  Nor  in  the  bower, 
Where  woodbines  flaunt,  and  roses  shed  a  couch, 
While  evening  draws  her  crimson  curtains  round. 
Trust  your  soft  minutes  with  betraying  man." 

(iSi) 


l82  LONICERA    SEMPERVIRENS. SCARLET    HONEYSUCKLE. 

Nearly  all  our  own  poets,  when  they  refer  at  all  to  the  Wood- 
bine or  Honeysuckle,  keep  this  embowering  character  especially 
in  view.  Bryant,  in  the  "  Unknown  Way,"  asks  of  the  strange 
path — 

"  Goest  thou  by  nestling  cottage  ? 
Goest  thou  by  stately  hall, 
Where  the  broad  elm  droops,  a  leafy  dome, 
And  woodbines  flaunt  on  the  wall  ?  " 

and,  in  the  "  Evangeline  "  of  Longfellow,  we  are  told  that^ — 

"  Firmly  builded  with  rafters  of  oak,  the  house  of  the  farmer 
Stood  on  the  side  of  a  hill  commanding  the  sea;  and  a  shady 
Sycamore  grew  by  the  door,  with  a  woodbine  wreathing  around  it." 

It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  our  poets  have  either  had 
their  im.aginations  influenced  by  European  literature  or  by  Euro- 
pean experiences,  for  our  native  species  have  not  the  rampant 
habit  of  the  European,  and  most  of  the  honeysuckles  and  wood- 
bines of  American  horticulture,  which  help  us  to  make  umbrageous 
bowers,  come  to  us  from  China  or  Japan  ;  and  when  we  see  the 
woodbine  on  the  American  "  nesding  cottage,"  we  have  litde  but 
the  name  to  connect  them  with  the  plants  of  which  the  poets 
sing.  But  the  names  carry  us  back  a  long  way  into  history. 
By  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  as  we  learn  from  Pliny,  the 
Honeysuckle  was  known  as  the  Periclymenon.  Literally,  this  is 
"  rolling  or  twining  around,"  and  is  equivalent  to  the  modern 
Woodbine.  Honeysuckle  seems  a  puzzling  word  to  modern  in- 
vestigators. Dr.  Prior  says,  in  his  "  Popular  Names  of  British 
Plants,"  that  the  name  probably  belonged  to  some  other  plant, 
and  was  "transferred  to  the  woodbine  on  account  of  the  honey- 
dew  so  plentifully  deposited  on  its  leaves."  But  the  account 
given  by  Green,  the  old  English  herbalist,  seems  to  offer  a  better 
reason.  He  says  :  "  In  the  evenings  some  species  of  sphinges,  or 
hawk-moths,  are  frequendy  observed  to  hover  over  the  blossoms, 
and  with  their  long  tongues  to  extract  the  honey  from  the  very 
bottom  of  the  flowers.  A  considerable  quantity  of  the  nectareous 
juice  may  sometimes  be  discerned  in  the  tube.     Insects  that  are 


LONICERA    SEMPERVIRENS. SCARLET    HONEYSUCKLE.  I  83 

too  large  to  penetrate  into  the  narrow  part  of  the  tube,  and  have 
not  a  long  tongue  like  the  sphinges,  to  reach  the  juice,  make  a 
puncture  towards  the  bottom  and  so  fairly  tap  the  juice."  It  may 
be  remarked  here  that  the  word  "  Honeysuckle,"  by  all  the 
earlier  writers,  seems  to  have  been  confined  to  the  flowers  of 
the  Woodbine  plant. 

"A  honeysuckle, 
The  amorous  woodbine's  offspring," 

as  Ben  Jonson  expresses  it,  and  this  would  leave  Dr.  Prior's  ex- 
planation quite  out  of  the  question.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  by 
the  way,  that  Green  notes  the  habit  of  the  larger  insects  of  boring 
into  the  corolla  from  the  outside,  an  insect-practice  supposed  to 
be  among  the  discoveries  of  these  modern  days. 

Another  name  of  somewhat  ancient  times  was  Caprifolmni,  and 
this  has  been  taken  as  a  name  for  the  whole  order — Caprifoliacecs. 
In  like  manner  this  name  puzzles  the  commentators,  and  is  thought 
to  be  derived  from  Latin  words  signifying  a  goat  and  a  leaf, 
"because  goats  are  fond  of  the  leaves."  This  is  an  unlikely 
reason.  A  popular  name  for  the  Woodbine  among  some  of  the 
English  peasantry  who  know  nothing  of  Latin  is  "Caprifoly;  "  and 
it  is  probably,  therefore,  a  corruption  from  some  forgotten  source. 

The  botanical  name,  Lonicera,  credited  to  Linnseus  in  our  text- 
books, seems  to  have  been  first  applied  by  Ray,  a  noted  English 
botanist  who  flourished  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury ;  and  it  commemorates  Adam  Lonitzer,  who  wrote  several 
large  folio  volumes  on  the  medical  properties  of  plants  which 
were  published  in  Frankfort  between  1551  and  1564.  He  was 
born  at  Marbourg  in  1528  and  died  in  Frankfort  in  1586.  The 
name  appears  in  Plumier's  works  in  1703,  and  he  is  often  credited 
with  the  authorship  of  the  name. 

Independently  of  its  family  history  and  generical  associations,  our 
Trumpet  Honeysuckle  has  abundant  points  of  its  own  to  interest 
the  student  and  the  mere  lover  of  wild  American  floral  scenery. 
There  is  scarcely  anything  more  lovely  than  this  species  when  it 
gets  a  chance   to  clamber  over  low  bushes  on  the  outskirts  of 


I  84  LONICERA    SEMPERVIRENS. SCARLET    HONEYSUCKLE. 

woods.  It  is  very  often  found,  however,  In  the  deeper  shade, 
and  then  its  flowers  are  few.  In  these  cases,  even  in  Pennsyl- 
vania where  it  is  occasionally  found,  its  trailing  stems  retain  the 
leaves  green  all  the  winter,  though  Dr.  Gray  says  "  leaves  de- 
ciduous in  the  North,"  referring  probably  to  cultivation.  The 
plant  is  not  found  wild  beyond  Southern  New  York,  whence  it 
extends  down  to  Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  Mr.  Butler,  in  the 
first  volume  of  the  "  Botanical  Gazette,"  notes  that  it  is  found 
across  the  Mississippi  in  Arkansas.  Usually  it  favors  low,  moist 
places,  but  Mr.  Howard  Shriver,  in  the  same  magazine,  states 
that  it  is  found  on  cliffs  of  the  New  river  in  Virginia.  Most  of 
the  species  of  Honeysuckle  have  the  mouth  of  the  corolla  divided 
into  two  distinct  portions  or  "lips;"  our  species  is  peculiar  In 
having  the  mouth  but  slightly  notched,  and  the  divisions  mostly 
regular.  It  is  from  this  that  it  derives  Its  name  of  "  Trumpet 
Honeysuckle,"  From  its  bright  color  It  Is  also  called  quite  fre- 
quently the  "  Scarlet  Coral  Honeysuckle."  It  will  be  Interesting 
to  compare  the  manner  of  flowering  with  that  of  many  other 
species  of  Honeysuckle.  In  some  the  leaves  as  well  as  the 
flowers  are  perfecdy  formed  at  each  node.  The  flowering  is  then 
said  to  be  axillary.  In  our  species  the  leaves  are  nearly  or  en- 
tirely suppressed,  and  this  makes  the  flowering  appear  In  terminal 
racemes.  It  is  further  remarkable  that  In  the  case  of  those  species 
which  have  this  terminal  character  the  upper  leaves  generally 
unite,  and  often  Increase  In  size.  We  may  also  note  that  when 
this  union  occurs  there  is  much  difference  in  the  velning  of  the 
leaves,  and  this  gives  color  to  the  view  of  some  German  mor- 
phologists  that  it  is  the  growth  of  the  leaf-blade  that  decides  the 
number  and  position  of  the  veins,  and  not  that  the  veins  are  first 
formed  as  if  they  were  the  skeleton,  the  leaf-blade  in  form  and 
character  beinsf  then  made  to  suit  the  veins. 


nHRT,nMF,   r^T,A"R"RA 


CHELONE   GLABRA. 
TURTLE-HEAD. 

NATURAL    ORDER,    SCROPHULARIACE/E. 

Chelone  glabra,  Linnreus. — A  foot  or  two  feet  (or  in  Illinois  six  to  seven  feet)  high;  leaves 
from  narrowly  to  rather  broadly  lanceolate  (four  to  five  inches  long,  four  to  twelve  lines 
wide),  gradually  acuminate,  serrate  with  sharp  appressed  teeth,  narrowed  at  the  base  into 
a  very  short  petiole  :  bracts  not  ciliate  :  corolla  white,  or  barely  tinged  with  rose,  an  inch 
long.  (Gray's  Synoptical  Flora  of  North  America.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the 
Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States, 
and  Wood's  Class- Book  of  Botany.) 

|HIS  very  pretty  wild  flower  will  interest  the  collector,  not 
only  because  it  is  pretty,  but  also  because  it  will  furnish 
material  for  good  botanical  lessons,  especially  in  that  part  of 
botany  which  deals  with  the  evolution  of  form  and  the  relation 
which  plants  bear  to  one  another  in  systems  of  classification. 
Taking  this  latter  topic  first,  it  may  be  well  to  assume  that  a  large 
number  of  our  readers  know  what  is  a  Pentstemon,  for  they  form 
not  only  a  very  extensive  genus,  but  some  one  or  more  of  them 
are  found  in  most  parts  of  the  territory  covered  by  our  work — 
the  United  States.  Besides  this,  the  Pentstenion  has  been 
improved  by  skilful  florists,  and  thus  has  become  a  very  popular 
garden  plant,  and  afforded  many  besides  those  who  go  out  to 
gather  wild  flowers,  the  opportunity  of  being  acquainted  with 
them.  The  natural  order  to  which  the  Fentstejnon,  Chelone, 
and  many  other  American  plants  belong,  ScrophulaiHacea,  has 
usually  two  pairs  of  didynamous  or  twin  stamens,  one  pair 
generally  above  the  other  ;  but  occasionally  some  of  the  number 
are  abortive  and  only  two  stamens  appear.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  at  times  a  tendency  to  add  to  the  normal  number  four, 
by  the  introduction  of  a  fifth  stamen.     In  Pentsteinon  this  fifth 

("85) 


1 86  CHELONE     GLABRA. TURTLE-HEAD. 

Stamen  is  produced  to  the  length  and  of  the  strength  of  the  four 
perfect  stamens,  though  we  can  see  it  has  still  imperfect  anthers ; 
but  the  fifth  in  this  family  being  so  conspicuously  prominent, 
even  to  this  extent,  earned  for  the  genus  its  botanical  name 
Pent-  (or  fifth)  stemon.  Now,  our  present  subject,  Chelone  (pro- 
nounced in  three  syllables),  is  much  like  Pcntstemon  in  this 
respect,  though,  while  the  fifth  or  imperfect  stamen  is  developed 
to  the  full  length  in  Pentstemon,  it  is  much  shorter  than  the  other 
four  in  our  present  subject,  and  botanists  dwell  much  on  this  in 
noting  the  differences  between  the  two.  There  are  also  some 
litde  differences  in  the  peculiar  compression  of  the  corolla  in 
Chelone,  and  in  the  general  appearance ;  and,  after  all,  it  is  a 
question  whether  it  is  not  rather  because  of  the  general  appear- 
ance of  the  plant  and  flower  that  it  is  kept  separate  from  Pent- 
stenion,  for  very  few  persons,  unacquainted  with  the  niceties  of 
botanical  classification,  would  at  first  take  it  for  a  Pcntstemon. 
There  is,  however,  one  little  point  which  seems  characteristic  and 
sufficient  to  decide  them,  and  that  is  in  the  seed,  which  has  always 
around  it  a  broad  membraneous  wing,  never  to  be  found  in  Pcnt- 
stemon, so  that  this,  with  the  general  distinct  appearance,  might 
be  relied  on  to  disdnguish.  But  even  the  general  appearance  is 
not  always  to  be  relied  on,  for  the  "  Botany  of  the  Californian 
Geological  Survey"  tells  us  that  there  is  a  plant  in  Oregon  so 
exactly  like  a  Pcntstemon,  that  one  has  to  note  the  membraneous 
border  to  the  seeds  before  knowing  that  it  is  a  Chelone.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  are  some  Pentstemons  that  have  been  thought  to 
be  Chclones,  and  the  whole  teaches  us  on  how  slender  founda- 
tions often  stand  what  we  think  are  very  distinct  genera. 

As  to  how  one  form  may  grow  out  of  another,  a  hint  may  be 
gathered  from  a  communication  by  Mr.  Henry  F.  Young  to  the 
Bulledn  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club  for  1872.  As  already 
noted  in  Chelone,  the  fifth  or  false  stamen  is  much  shorter  than 
the  others,  but  Mr.  Young  found  a  flower  in  which  were  five  per- 
fect stamens.  This  is  a  very  important  fact  as  showing  the  line 
of  descent.     In  this  genus  and  most  of  its  allies  the  calyx  is  five- 


CUKI.ONK     nr,Ar,RA,-  -TURTJ.K  HEAD.  1 87 

parted  ;  and  the  corolla,  though  of  but  one  petal,  is  also  usually 
five-lobed.  This  shows  that  the  normal  structure  .of  the  flower 
is  pentamerous,  or  formed  on  a  plan  of  five,  and  that  it  is  only 
by  a  union  or  suppression  of  parts  that  we  have  the  forms  we 
see.  Even  when  we  come  to  study  the  species  as  well  as  the 
genus,  the  relation  of  one  form  to  the  other  is  found  so  close  as 
to  make  the  line  of  distinction  very  uncertain.  In  the  earlier 
times  Linnaeus  described  two  species.  One,  our  present  Chelonc 
glabra,  is  thus  described  by  Willdenow,  "leaves  lanceolate,  ser- 
rate, petiolate  ;  the  upper  ones  opposite."  The  other  C  obliqiia 
is  said  to  have  "leaves  lanceolate,  serrate,  petiolate  opposite." 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  succeeding  botanists  w^ere  in 
doubt  about  them.  Professor  Wood  does  not  refer  to  C.  obliqiia 
even  as  a  synonym,  as  Dr.  Chapman  in  his  Southern  Flora,  and 
Dr.  Gray  in  his  Manual  of  1867,  do, — but  the  latter  in  his 
"Synopsis"  of  1878,  again  carries  it  back  to  its  Linnsean  position 
as  a  distinct  species,  giving  a  character  not  mentioned  by  Will- 
denow, that  in  C.  obliqua  the  bracts  are  "  ciliolate,"  while  in  our 
species  he  says  they  are  "  not  ciliate,"  meaning  perhaps  "  cilio- 
late," or  having  a  few  short  or  scattered  bristles  along  the  mar- 
gins of  the  bracts,  which  are  probably  variable  after  all.  Lindley 
and  Moore's  Treasury  of  Botany  says,  "The  so-called  C.  glabra 
is  now  regarded  as  but  one  of  the  forms  of  C.  obliqiia',''  but  if 
one  name  has  to  be  dropped,  it  should  be  the  latter  in  accord- 
ance with  the  practice  of  American  botanists.  A.  L.  de  Jussieu, 
a  distinguished  French  author  of  the  end  of  the  last  century,  and 
one  of  the  fathers  of  modern  Botany,  tells  us  C  glabra  was  the 
earliest  name,  and  that  the  character  of  the  whole  genus  was 
drawn  from  this  species.  That  the  species  has  "  many  forms  " 
American  botanists  know.  Mr.  Coleman  finds  one  in  the  South- 
ern Peninsula  of  Michigan  with  leaves  only  between  a  quarter  to 
half  an  inch  wide,  which  he  calls  variety  "  linifolia."  The  flowers 
are  also  variable  in  color.  It  is  often  pure  white,  and  again  it  is 
frequently  found  of  the  rosy  tint  we  have  given  in  our  plate, 
which  is  from  a  Pennsylvania  specimen. 


1 88  CHEI.ONE     GI.ABRA. TURTLE-HEAD. 

Linnseus  is  usually  credited  widi  the  name,  but  he  tells  us 
he  adopted  it  from  Dillenius,  an  author  who  flourished  just 
before  his  own  time.  Tournefort,  however,  seems  to  be  the 
original  author,  who  wrote  about  1 700,  and  who,  according  to 
Milne,  named  it  Cheloiie,  "  from  the  Greek,  meaning  a  tortoise, 
from  the  figure  of  its  seeds,  which  are  round,  compressed,  and 
begirt  with  a  membraneous  rim  or  border."  Clayton,  and  others 
of  his  time,  regarded  it  as  one  of  the  Digitalis  or  Fox-gloves ; 
though  Gronovius,  the  editor  of  Clayton's  work,  refers  it  cor- 
rectly to  Tournefort's  Chelone. 

Lindley  and  Moore,  already  quoted,  say,  comparing  it  with 
Pentstemon,  "  the  form  of  the  corolla  in  this  genus  is  very  dis- 
tinct, the  broad-keeled  upper  lip  and  scarcely  open  mouth  giving 
it  some  resemblance  to  the  head  of  a  tortoise  or  turtle,  to  which 
feature  are  due  both  the  scientific  appellation  and  the  popular 
American  name  of  'Turtle-head.'  "  Our  American  botanists  do 
not  seem  quite  sure  about  this.  Professor  Wood,  after  giving 
the  Greek  name,  simply  says,  "  from  the  appearance  of  the 
flower,"  and  Dr.  Gray,  though  he  translates  the  Greek  to  "  tor- 
toise," adds,  "  the  corolla  resembling  in  shape  the  head  of  a  rep- 
tile," which  may  include  many  things  besides  a  tortoise.  The 
peculiar-looking  seed,  as  already  noted,  is  the  chief  distinctive 
mark  between  Pentsteinon  and  Chelone,  and  as  this  must  have 
been  in  mind  by  the  botanist  describing  it,  gives  some  reason 
for  concluding  Milne  to  be  right  as  to  the  original  intention  of 
the  name.  The  "American  common  name  "  probably  came  from 
the  botanists,  for  we  have  rarely  heard  those  who  live  among  the 
flower  give  it  any  name. 

Dr.  Gray  says  it  grows  "from  Newfoundland  to  the  Saskatch- 
ewan and  south  to  Florida."  It  is  across  the  Mississippi,  how- 
ever, in  Arkansas,  though  it  has  not  been  found  in  Kansas  or 
Nebraska.  It  bears  garden  culture  well.  Among  the  common 
names  given  in  books  are  "Snake-head,"  "Shell-flower,"  and 
"  Balmony." 


lOWNSENDIA  SERICEA. 
L.  Prang  &  Company.  Boston. 


TOWNSENDIA   SERICEA. 
SILKY   TOWNSEND   FLOWER. 

NATURAL   ORDER,    COMPOSITE. 

ToWNSENDIA  SERICEA,  Hooker.— Stemless,  from  a  simple  or  much  branched  caudex,  one  to 
two  inches  high  ;  leaves  spalulate-linear,  silky  canescent,  acute,  one-nerved,  twelve  to  fifteen 
lines  long,  erect,  surrounding  and  partly  concealing  the  heads  (eight  lines  long),  which  are 
sessile  or  on  very  short  peduncles;  scales  of  the  involucre  subulate-lanceolate,  pubescent, 
green  in  the  centre,  purplish  towards  the  tip;  margins  scarious,  lacerate-ciliate;  rays  long; 
narrow,  not  spreading;  pappus  of  the  disk  white,  about  as  long  as  the  corolla,  pappus  of  the 
ray  of  several  unequal  subulate  bristles,  much  shorter  than  the  achenium  and  one  or  two 
long  ones  (sometime?  nine  or  ten)  similar  to  those  of  the  disk  flowers;  achenium  hairy, 
hairs  minutely  capitate.  (Porter's  Synopsis  of  the  Flora  of  Colorado.  See  also  Torrey  and 
Gray's  Flora  of  North  America.') 

INCE  the  railroad  progress  of  the  few  years  past  has 
brought  the  Rocky  Mountain  country  so  near  to  us,  and 
many  of  the  most  intelHgent  class  of  tourists  make  Colorado  their 
summer  home,  the  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  its  natural 
history  and  especially  its  botany  is  very  great.  Its  flora  is  indeed 
interesdng,  not  merely  for  its  own  sake,  but  also  because  its 
Alpine  vegetation  affords  us  in  some  degree  a  knowledge  of  a 
more  northern  flora.  The  present  species  for  instance,  an 
inhabitant  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  also  an  Arctic  plant,  and 
was  indeed  first  made  known  to  us  by  the  naturalists  connected 
with  the  first  voyage  to  the  Arctic  seas,  of  the  subsequendy 
unfortunate  Sir  John  Franklin  ;  and  it  is  described  in  Dr.  John 
Richardson's  account  of  the  plants  collected  on  that  expedition, 
published  in  1823.  Dr.  Richardson  thought  it  might  be  a  species 
of  Aster,  to  which  it  is  somewhat  related,  occupying  a  position 
between  Aster  2.\\A  Erigeron.  Its  true  distinction  from  Aster  was 
perceived  by  Sir  William  J.  Hooker,  who,  in  1829,  published  the 

(.89) 


190         TOWNSENDIA    SERICEA. SILKY     TOWNSEND     FLOWER. 

"  Flora  Boreall-Americana,"  wherein  he  described  and  named  it 
as  Toivnsendia.  Its  general  appearance  leads  one  to  suspect 
some  difference  from  Aster;  and  the  globular  involucre  (Fig.  2) 
strikes  us  at  once  when  we  go  into  details,  as  in  Aster  it  is  ovoid 
or  oblong.  Some  authors  note  a  difference  in  the  relative  length 
of  the  pappus  in  the  ray  and  disk  florets,  it  being  shorter  in  the 
latter.  Dr.  Masters,  in  the  "Treasury  of  Botany,"  says  of  Town- 
sendia,  "  the  fruits  are  hairy,  and  the  pappus  is  in  one  row,  scaly 
in  the  outer,  hairy  in  the  inner  fruits."  The  difference  in  the 
pappus  seems  to  be  the  great  point  of  comparison.  Sir  W.  J. 
Hooker  says,  in  the  work  referred  to :  "  This  highly  interesting 
plant,  no  less  on  account  of  its  habit  than  its  pappus,  deserves 
to  be  separated  from  Aster,  of  which  it  was  by  Richardson  con- 
sidered a  doubtful  species."  When  speaking  of  the  pappus  par- 
ticularly he  says:  "  Pappus  of  the  ray  composed  of  several  unequal 
subulate  bristles  much  shorter  than  the  achenium,  and  one  or 
two  long  ones  nearly  resembling  those  of  the  disk  flowers."  In 
regard  to  this  matter  of  the  pappus  Nuttall  says,  in  the  "Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society's  Transactions"  for  1834-35,  "Achenium 
obovate,  margined,  and  flatly  depressed,  sericeous  (silky)  with  a 
numerous  connate  series  of  white  silky  pappus  almost  plumose, 
barbellate,  and  remarkably  attenuated  above." 

We  have  thought  it  important  to  call  the  collector's  attention 
to  what  these  different  authors  say  of  the  pappus  (the  silky  hair 
coming  up  from  the  tip  of  the  seed  at  /  in  Fig.  3  and  Fig.  4), 
because  it  will  be  seen  that  though  there  is  something  evidently 
distinct  in  its  characters  from  Aster,  no  two  of  the  writers  exactly 
agree,  and  our  Fig.  3  and  Fig.  4  would  scarcely  be  recognized 
as  coming  under  the  description  of  any  one.  The  bristles  "much 
shorter  than  the  achenium  "  do  not  show  at  all ;  rather,  instead 
of  "one  or  two"  being  long  in  the  ray  flower  (Fig.  3),  they  are 
all  "  resembling  those  of  the  disk  "  (Fig.  4) ;  being  but  little 
shorter.  Our  drawing  was  made  from  a  Colorado  specimen, 
kindly  furnished  by  Prof  Sargent,  of  the  Cambridge  Botanical 
Garden,  but  the  same  character  as  figured  in  our  plate  exists  in 


TOWNSENDIA     SERICEA. SILKY     TOWNSEND     FLOWER.  I9I 

dried  natural  specimens.  We  were  at  first  disposed  to  regard 
this  development  of  the  pappus  in  the  ray  flowers  abnormal  in 
this  respect, — but  it  may  be  noted  that  in  Mr.  Watson's  Botany 
of  King's  Expedition,  a  species  T.  scapigei'-a  is  figured,  in  which 
also  there  seems  nothing  but  a  little  difference  in  length  to  dis- 
tinguish the  pappus  of  the  disk  from  that  of  the  ray. 

Our  plant  would  probably  be  regarded  as  the  same  with  that 
described  in  the  "  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club,"  vol.  6, 
p.  163,  as  T.  Wilcoxiana,  by  Prof.  Wood,  who  says  of  it,  "  pappus 
alike  in  the  ray  and  the  disc  florets,  consisting  of  about  thirty 
white  bristles,"  and  he  remarks  that  it  is  confounded  in  Herba- 
riums with  T.  scricca.  Since  the  discovery  of  the  species  we 
now  describe  by  the  Franklin  expedition,  so  many  new  forms 
have  been  found  from  the  Arctics  to  New  Mexico,  and  so  nearly 
like  each  other,  that  botanists  are  almost  afraid  to  name  and 
describe  them  as  new  species,  and,  therefore,  we  have  thought  it 
might  help  the  student,  by  dwelling  on  this  point  relative  to  the 
pappus,  to  prepare  him  to  look  for  probable  variations. 

Among  the  interesting  points  connected  with  our  plant  is  one 
quoted  by  Hooker  in  regard  to  the  time  when  the  buds  are 
formed.  In  most  composite  plants  these  are  developed  after  the 
o-rowth  of  the  leaves  in  the  spring;  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  says  "the 
bud  is  formed  in  the  autumn,"  and  what  Dr.  Richardson  further 
observed  in  the  living  plant  I  find  to  be  characteristic  of  all  the 
specimens  in  this  collection,  that  "  the  florets  of  the  ray  are  mosdy 
involute,  rarely  expanded,  and  always  narrow,  nearly  of  the  same 
color  with  the  pappus  and  inconspicuous ;  the  flowers  indeed 
never  fully  expanding,"  in  which  again  the  student  will  sec  some 
dlff*erences  in  our  plate. 

Though  with  apparendy  so  wide  a  distribution  through  die 
centre  of  our  territory,  It  does  not  seem  to  be  often  met  with  by 
collectors.  It  was  found  by  Nuttall,  in  1834,  when  on  the  Wyeth 
expedidon,  he  says  "on  the  Black  Hills  towards  the  source  of  the 
Platte  in  ladtude  41°.  Flowering  in  April  and  May  probably,  as, 
accordinor  to  Dr.  Richardson,  the  flower  is  formed  In  the  autumn 


192  TOWNSENDIA     SERICEA. SILKY    TOWNSEND     FLOWER. 

and  expands  the  following  spring."  Dr.  C.  E.  Parry  found  it  in 
1 861  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  about  the  head  waters  of  South 
Clear  Creek  ;  and  about  the  same  time  and  near  the  same  place 
it  was  found  by  Hall  and  Harbor.  Mr.  Brandegee  has  collected 
it  in  southern  Colorado,  and  as  already  noted  it  has  been  found 
in  the  Indian  Territory,  if  Prof  Wood's  T.  Wilcoxiana  is  the 
same  thing. 

Taiviiseiidia  was  so  named  by  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker  in  honor 
of  David  Townsend,  cashier  in  the  same  bank  in  West  Chester, 
Pennsylvania,  of  which  the  celebrated  Dr.  Darlington  was  Presi- 
dent, and  who,  though  he  wrote  nothing,  was  one  of  the  best 
botanists  of  his  time,  and  had  an  especial  knowledge  of  Astera- 
ceoiis  plants.  In  this  especially,  as  well  as  for  a  free  distribution 
of  specimens  to  European  botanists,  they  were  glad  in  this 
pleasant  way  to  make  acknowledgments.  He  died  at  West 
Chester,  Pennsylvania,  December  6th,  1858,  in  his  seventy- 
first  year;  preceding  but  by  a  few  years  his  life-long  friend  and 
companion.  Dr.  Darlington,  who  died  on  the  2 2d  of  April,  1863, 
in  his  eighty-first  year — the  two  having  rendered  West  Chester 
famous  in  the  botanical  annals  of  America,  and  both  beinof  com- 
memorated  in  distinctively  American  plants  which  bear  their 
names. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate,  i.  A  full-sized  plant.  2.  Side  view  showing  the  almost 
globular  involucre.  3.  Ray  floret  with  pappus  and  young  achene  enlarj^ed,  4.  Enlarged 
disk  floret.  5.  Pollen  grain  enlarged  270  times.  6.  Side  view  of  a  branch,  with  side  view 
of  flowers,  showing  its  proportionate  length  with  the  leaves. 


^T.f   -OAT  nArnTTM 


POLYPODIUM    FALCATUM. 
SICKLE-LEAVED   POLYPOD,  OR   LIQUORICE  FERN. 


NATURAL   ORDER,  FILICES. 

POLYPODIUM  FALCATUM,  Kellogg.— Frond  deeply  pinnatifid,  segments  alternate,  long  lance 
falcate,  alternate,  acuminate,  doubly  serrate,  upper  and  lower  divisions  smaller  by  decrees, 
terminating  above  in  a  long  slender  acumination.  Sori  numerous,  twenty  to  twenty  four 
in  two  rows,  one  on  each  side  of  the  mid-rib,  rachis  glabrous,  from  one  to  one  and  a  half 
feet  in  height.  Root  compressed  tuberculate,  one-fourth  to  one-eighth  inch  broad,  greenish 
russet  color,  branching  laterally,  radicles  numerous,  rhizoma  often  covered  with  scales. 
(Dr.  Kellogg  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences,  for  December, 
1854 ;   see  also  Eaton's  Ferns  of  N'orth  America.) 


|N  a  recent  work  on  a  curious  order  of  water  plants  known 
as  Chara — "Characeae  Americanae" — the  author,  Dr. 
Allen,  quotes  a  distinguished  student  of  the  lower  orders  of 
vegetation,  Alexander  Braun,  as  saying:  "So  long  as  I  knew  but 
few  forms  of  the  GymnopodccB,  their  distinction  was  easy,  but 
when  it  became  necessary  to  distinguish  sixteen  or  eighteen 
forms,  I   concluded  to   consider  them  all  varieties  of  a  sinele 

o 

species."  This  extract  from  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of 
German  botanists  shows  that  even  those  who  have  penetrated 
the  deepest  into  the  mysteries  of  plant  life  have  no  definite  idea 
of  what  determines  a  species.  If  some  accident  had  destroyed 
all  the  individuals  comprising  a  dozen  of  the  intermediate  forms, 
so  as  to  leave  only  the  extremes,  we  see  that  Braun  would  have 
regarded  these  extremes  as  distinct  species ;  but  because  the 
intermediates  had  not  been  destroyed,  and  thus  affording  a 
chain  of  close  relationships,  they  are  all  regarded  as  of  one 
species. 

Now  most  botanists  have  had  the  experience  with  ferns  that 
Braun  had  with  Characece.    The  less  we  know  of  any  species  the 

(193) 


J  94  POLYPODIUM    FALCATUM. SICKLE-LEAVED     POLYPOD. 

more  likely  we  are  to  make  new  ones.  The  ferns  of  the  Atlantic 
States  have  been  so  well  studied  that  any  novel  form  is  soon 
referred  to  some  well-known  species  ;  but  the  ferns  of  the  Pacific 
coast  are  not  so  well  known,  and  thus  when  some  peculiar-look- 
ing individuals  are  met  with  it  is  uncertain  what  the  botanist  will 
do  with  them.  Our  present  plant  is  as  yet  one  of  these  doubt- 
ful plants.  It  was  first  brought  to  notice  by  Dr.  Kellogg,  who 
exhibited  specimens  to  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences, 
December  nth,  1854,  from  Mr.  Swan,  of  Shoalwater  Bay,  Wash- 
ington Territory,  and  who  named  and  described  it  as  Poly  podium 
falcatiim  at  the  meeting  following,  December  i8th.  Next  we 
find  it  in  Professor  Eaton's  hand  from  specimens  received  from 
Lieutenant  A.  V.  Kautz,  of  the  United  States  army,  who  collected 
it  in  Southw^estern  Oregon.  Professor  Eaton  seems  not  to  have 
detected  the  identity  of  these  specimens  with  Kellogg's  descrip- 
tion, and  so  gave  it  a  new  name  and  description  as  Polypodmm 
glycyrhiza  in  "Silliman's  American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts" 
for  November,  1856  (vol.  22,  p.  138),  and  not  in  July,  as  he  states 
in  his  *'  Ferns  of  North  America."  Then  the  writer  of  this  was 
furnished  with  excellent  fresh  specimens  by  Mrs.  Fanny  E.  Briggs 
from  LaCentre,  Washington  Territory,  from  which  our  drawing 
was  chiefly  made  ;  and  the  only  other  record  of  any  specimens 
that  we  have  at  hand  is  in  the  "  check  list  of  North  American 
Ferns  in  Davenport  Herbarium  of  the  Massachusetts  Horti- 
cultural Society,"  where  specimens  are  reported  as  from  "Oregon, 
1875  ;  and  from  Washington  Territory,  1876,  Joseph  Howell." 
It  will  be  seen  from  this  how  very  litde  is  known  of  this  fern, 
and  from  this  it  comes  about  that  some  authors  write  of  it  as 
"probably  a  variety  of  Polypodhun  Californicum','  others  as 
"  probably  a  variety  of  Polypodmm  vulgare^'  and  others,  as  for 
instance  Professor  Eaton,  as  a  disdnct  species.  It  is  not  our 
purpose  to  illustrate  what  may  finally  be  considered  mere 
varieties  in  our  "Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the  United  States,"  as 
no  doubt  many  of  the  Pacific  forms  will  come  to  be  regarded ;  so 
we  give  this  because,  with  Professor  Eaton,  we  believe  its  specific 


POLYPODIUM     FALCATUM. SICKLE-LEAVED     TOLYPOD.  I  95 

distinctness  will  be  finally  agreed  upon.  It  will  be  seen  from  our 
plate  that  it  agrees  with  Polypodium  Californiciim  in  the  pellucid 
veins  which  thicken  as  they  terminate  (Fig.  3,  a).  From  Poly- 
podiiun  vidgare  it  differs  in  the  thin,  papery  texture  and  glaucous 
hue  of  the  fronds,  and  the  falcate  form  of  the  divisions  in  the 
more  vigorous  specimens  (Fig.  2).  Beyond  all  this  there  is  one 
very  important  difference  if  Professor  Eaton's  account  under 
"  P.  giycyrhiza  "  be  correct.  As  every  fern  collector  knows,  he 
has  not  to  wait 

"...         till  the  light  of  spring 
Comes  from  the  sun,  with  zephyrs  and  with  showers, 
Waking  the  earth  to  beauty,  and  the  woods 
To  music,  and  the  atmosphere  to  blow, 
Sweetly  and  calmly,  with  its  breath  of  balm," 

as  Percival  would  say,  before  he  can  collect  perfect  specimens  of 
Polypodkun  vidgare  for  examination,  for  it  is  an  evergreen,  and 
is  even  in  best  condition  in  the  winter  season  .if  the  frosts  are  not 
too  severe  and  the  place  of  growth  too  exposed ;  but  this  species 
Eaton  says  has  annual  fronds,  and  this  from  their  thin,  filmy 
character  is  probably  correct.  That  it  is  nearer  to  P.  Califonuaini 
than  to  P.  vidgare  we  find  also  suggested  by  one  of  our  own  cor- 
respondents, Dr.  C.  L.  Andrews,  of  Santa  Cruz,  California,  who, 
under  date  of  April  i6th,  1878,  says:  ''Polypodium  falcatum  I 
take  to  be  a  variety  of  our  P.  Californicwn  [mtermediiwi),  having 
the  habit  of  P.  vidgare.''  Of  this  habit  Mrs.  Fanny  E.  Briggs 
says  in  the  Gaj^deners  Monthly  ior  March,  1879,  "it  grows  in 
moss  on  trees  and  logs  with  Polypodium  intei'medium,  and  is 
known  as  '  Wild-Licorice.' "  Lieutenant  Kautz  tells  Professor 
Eaton  that  it  has  "  aerial  roodets,  having  a  sweet  flavor  like  that 
of  licorice."  In  his  "  Ferns  of  North  America,"  and  wherein  he 
expresses  his  opinion  that  it  is  a  distinct  species,  Professor  Eaton 
says  he  "  has  not  seen  the  root  stocks." 

Dr.  Kellogg,  in  the  original  account  in  the  "  Proceedings  of 
the  California  Academy  of  Sciences,"  says:  "It  is  highly 
esteemed  as  a  medicine,  both  among  the  natives  and  others, 
thought  to  be  antisyphilitic,  also    used    in    the    preparation    ol 


196  POLYPODIUM     FALCATUM. SICKLE-LEAVED    POLYPOD. 

tobacco,  imparting-  to  it  a  sweetish  licorice  flavor.  The  Polypody 
upon  oak  trees  was  famous  among  the  ancients  for  the  cure  of 
melancholy  and  madness." 

It  is  epiphytic  on  old  decayed  trees,  stumps  and  roots,  and 
clefts  of  rocks, — indeed  we  should  imagine  much  as  the  Poly- 
podiimi  vulga7'e  is.  It  probably  grows  rather  stronger  than  the 
species  last  named.  Mr.  Lunzer,  our  artist,  who  was  kindly  per- 
mitted to  examine  a  specimen  under  cultivation  in  the  Cambridge 
Botanic  Garden,  Massachusetts,  found  some  of  the  fronds  with 
their  stipes  about  eighteen  inches  long.  The  experience  in  this 
garden  leads  to  the  belief  that  the  plant  will  adapt  itself  easily 
to  cultivation,  and  the  facts  we  have  given  in  regard  to  its  native 
locations  will  help  the  cultivator. 


Explanations  of  the  Plate,  i.  A  rather  young  plant  from  Washington  Territory  furnished 
by  Mrs.  Fanny  E.  Briggs.  2.  A  full-grown  frond  from  a  specimen  grown  in  the  Cam- 
bridge Botanic  Garden.  3.  Portion  of  pinnule  enlarged,  showing  the  position  of  the  sori 
on  the  veins,  and  the  thickening  of  the  ends  of  the  (pellucid)  veins  at  a. 


itt-^  ^brary 


